Uzbekistan’s Sattorova sprints to gold in girls’ road race

TDT | Manama

Email : hussainm@newsofbahrain.com

Uzbekistan’s Gulhayo Sattorova powered to victory in a dramatic sprint finish to claim the gold medal in the girls’ road race yesterday at the third Asian Youth Games.

Racing over the NBH Loop course, Sattorova led a tightly bunched peloton across the finish line in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 26 seconds, averaging 33.4 km/h. It was a perfectly timed finish from the Uzbek rider, who held off a strong challenge from Kazakhstan’s Valeriya Kuznetsova, while Hong Kong’s Law Ching Kiu took bronze.

All three medallists crossed at the same time, reflecting how competitive the race proved to be from start to finish. Uzbekistan’s Sabrina Altinbekova narrowly missed the podium in fourth, also clocking 1:59:26, as the leading group sprinted shoulder to shoulder in the final stretch.

China’s Li Mengping placed fifth, followed closely by Maritanya Krog of the Philippines and Yang Chiao-hui of Chinese Taipei. The top ten riders all finished within seconds of one another in what was one of the tightest finishes of the Games so far.

Further down the field, Bahrain’s Dana Aldoseri, Zainab Karam, Jood Aloraibi, and Aseel Salman did not finish, as the humid morning conditions and fast pace took their toll on several competitors.