KUALA LUMPUR – She may been a former national triathlete who only made the switch to cycling late last year, but national cyclist Luo Yiwei belied her tender years in the sport as she won Singapore’s first-ever women's track cycling medal at the South-East Asian (SEA) Games on Sunday evening (Aug 27).

Competing in the women’s omnium at the National Velodrome in Nilai, the 27-year-old posted a total score of 161 to clinch the silver medal, and was just three points behind gold medallist Jutatip Maneephan of Thailand.

Malaysia’s Ju Pha Somnet took home the bronze with a score of 138, while Singapore’s other competitor in the event, Dinah Chan, finished sixth on 93 points.

Speaking to the media after the race, Luo said: “It felt incredible when I found out I had won the silver…after the last lap, I didn't know what position I was, but when my manager told me I came in second, the full blast of what I just did hit me.

“Winning Singapore's first-ever women's track cycling medal at a major games puts a weight on my shoulders, because there are all these track cyclists who have been training hard and going overseas just to get time on the velodrome.

“But we hope that our results here will help to raise awareness of the sport back in Singapore and hopefully one day, we too will be able to have a velodrome.”

Luo’s silver medal win however, was far from straightforward.

Entering the omnium’s final event – the point’s race – in fifth place on 98 points, 16 points behind the leading rider Supuksorn Nuntanna, Luo knew she needed pull out all the stops in order to stand a chance of finishing on the podium.

And the Singaporean did not disappoint, as she scored 63 points – the highest of the six-rider field – to move up to second in the leaderboard behind Maneephan.

“For the first two events (Scratch and Tempo), I was a bit nervous, so I ranked quite low, and I was quite sceptical as to whether I could even win a medal at all,” Luo admitted.

“Coming into the third event, the elimination race, I was afraid because I haven’t done a trial run before. But I managed to finish second in that event, and that boosted my confidence.

“So for the points race, I told myself that I had nothing to lose. I felt I was fit enough, the field was quite tired, and the other competitors seemed to be hesitant, so I took my chance.

“I worked with Maneephan on the go during the race to do a breakaway, and it worked for us to get our respective medals.”

Luo also credited team-mate Chan for helping her to the silver, as she said: “Dinah was a superb help. I read about her in the papers years ago, and it's really nice to have her as a team-mate now. She was a pillar of support, and was guiding me throughout the race, so I couldn't have done it without her.”

Chan may not have ended the event with a medal, but she played a huge role in helping Luo to the podium, as she helped her team-mate execute certain tactical manoeuvres on the track.

And 32-year-old Chan said she was pleased to see Luo win the silver.

“I treat her like my little sister so I'm very happy she won, and that I managed to played a part in it,” said Chan. “Moving forward, I'm not sure what's going to happen (in my cycling career), but we'll see.

“But I'm very happy still because I wanted to inspire people to take up cycling, and Yiwei is one of those who did. So I'm now maybe ready to hand over the reins to other cyclists.”