Former national cyclist Josiah Ng hopes to ride into broadcasting

The National Sports Council's (NSC) hopes of appointing former National track cycling ace Josiah Ng as the track cycling team manager was dashed when the latter turned down the offer to concentrate on his new career.

National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said the NSC and the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) would respect Josiah Ng's decision.

"We discussed the prospect of appointing Josiah Ng as the team manager but he had different ideas and wanted to focus on developing his career by himself," he said after chairing a NSC working committee meeting, here on Thursday.

According to Shapawi, Josiah Ng, 35, winner of a bronze medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games in South Korea, wants to focus on a career in broadcasting and also his business.

Josiah Ng, 35, announced his retirement from competitions after the Asian Cycling Championships in Korat, Thailand, recently.

The cyclists who first popped up on the international cycling stage by becoming the first Malaysian to qualify for the finals in the Athens Olympics in 2004, carved a name for himself in keirin events by winning a number of important events.

Crowned as the Olympian of the Year for his achievement in Athens, Josiah Ng had also won a silver medal at the Busan Asian Games in South Korea in 2002.

He went on to win a silver medal from Keirin at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar (2006) and won a gold medal in the same event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

In 2008, Josiah Ng also earned the distinction of becoming the first non-Australian to win the Melbourne Cup on Wheels at the HiSense Arena in Melbourne.