Naim: Let's honour Daud with a gold

IT was a sad day for the Malaysian cycling squad when they heard news of the tragic death of former great Daud Ibrahim yesterday.
The 63-year-old died on the spot from serious head injuries after the car he was travelling in was hit from behind by a lorry in Tampin early in the morning.
The cyclists had just wrapped up their final training session at the Guangzhou Velodrome when the news filtered through.

Ironically, Daud and Ng Joo Ngan were the last gold medallists for Malaysia in Asiad cycling at the 1970 Games in Bangkok.
Daud won five gold medals for Malaysia at the 1971 SEAP Games in Kuala Lumpur and represented the country at the Munich Olympics a year later.

There will be no training today because of the Asian Games opening ceremony but team manager Datuk Naim Mohamed hoped the cyclists would do their best to honour the late Daud.
“Cycling has lost one of its great sportsman and it’s unfortunate our last Asian Games gold medallist died before getting to see the current squad go into action,” he said.

“Daud has also contributed a lot to the sport after he retired. He was a former national coach and raised his children to follow in his footsteps.
“One of his sons (Fakruddin Daud) is making a name for himself at the national back-up level. We will miss the late Daud and I hope the cyclists will do their best to deliver gold again after such long time.”
The Asian Games cycling competition will get under way tomorrow.


Star