National Games 2022: Harshveer Singh wins gold in men’s 119km cycling road race
October 10, 2022
Ludhiana lad Harshveer Singh Sekhon’s effort to improve his sprint performance helped him win the men’s 119km cycling road race in the National Games here on Sunday.
Harshveer covered the distance in two hours, 56 minutes and 8.89 seconds to beat Arvind Panwar narrowly.
Harshveer, an engineering graduate who switched from roller skating to cycling in 2018, stuck to the strategy prepared by his coaches and benefitted from it.
“We worked as a team. I took the lead after two laps. My team-mate and I went for a break. I thank him for his support. In the last few kilometers I was nervous. I have not been a good sprinter. In the last few months I worked on my sprint. I feel confident about my sprint now,” said 24-year-old Harshveer, whose father was a kabaddi player and mother a hockey player.
Kavita Siyag of Rajasthan emerged as a ‘surprise’ winner in the women’s 30km individual time trial event.
RESULTS
Men
119km road race: 1. Harshveer Singh Sekhon (Pun) 2:56:08.89; 2. Arvind Panwar (UP) 2:56:08.95; 3. Sreenath Lakshmikanth (TN) 2:56:09.12.
Women
30km individual time trial: 1. Kavita Siyag (Raj) 48:19.90; 2. Meenakshi (Har) 48:37.79; 3. Pranita Soman (Mah) 49:18.58
