Ariana with Schepers after the race.
KUCHING: BMX cyclist Ariana Nurminda Arifin came up short in the Pre-Sukma cycling competition when she finished a disappointing sixth at Bukit Siol track over the weekend.
However, the former track athlete turned BMX cyclist was hampered by an accident during the event which prevented her from securing a better finishing.
A potential gold medallist in the coming Sukma XVIII, what is remarkable for Ariana is that she had come out second in her first ever BMX Championships in Gombak, Selangor on May 7-8.
She competed in the elite category and the winner was a rider from Thailand.
According to coach Leon Schepers, what made Ariana so special was that she was not a cyclist and used to be a 400m runner where she competed at the school and MSSM level.
“She came to us at the end of February this year and showed interest and wanted to start training and see if she is good enough to compete at the Sarawak BMX qualifying events during March.
“Also, she had never ridden a BMX before in her life or being a road cyclist.
“We started her on a training programme and she had no bike skills whatsoever.
“What compounded the problems even further, the BMX track was not completed in Kuching either and we were forced to train on the road for BMX.
“She competed at the BMX qualifying event in March on an uncompleted BMX track and came second overall and Sarawak Cycling Federation selected her as their BMX Sukma athlete.
“We arrived in Gombak on May 5 and started to learn the track as well as learning the start ramp as start gate.
“With all of this adversity and new learning curve, Ariana, even though she was afraid and hardly mastered the balancing against the start gate and struggled going down the start ramp with a couple of falls,” said Schepers.
Schepers pointed out that the starting ramp or starting gate is a crucial in BMX racing.
He said that if the cyclist cannot ride the starting ramp which is very intimidating for any new athlete as the starting ramp is at least six metres high.
On top of it, one has to balance against the starting gate with the feet clipped into the pedals until the gate is dropped for the start in BMX racing.
The South African-born coach said Ariana is showing lots of potential and with her determination and will to do well and never give up attitude even when injured, will be a great asset to Sarawak in Sukma XVIII.