PATRICK Coo (left) with gold winner Komet Sukprasert of Thailand and bronze medalist Shimada Ryo of Japan.
PATRICK Bren Coo clinched the silver medal at the 2024 Asian Cycling Confederation BMX Championships in Thailand to validate further his rising potential in the discipline.
The silver medal he clinched at the Kamol Sports Park in Nong Chok on Friday came after his men’s elite bronze medal last year at the Hangzhou Asian Games and the gold medal he captured as a junior rider in the 2019 Asian championships in Malaysia.
“I’m so blessed and I’m happy that all my hard work are paying off,” said the 22-year-old Coo, an Olympic Solidarity scholar who spend most of the year at the UCI World Cycling Center in Aigle, Switzerland, for his training and traveling the globe for his competitions.
Coo finished behind Thailand’s BMX ace Komet Sukprasert, who won his third straight Asian championships gold medal as he gears up for the Paris Olympics.
Japan’s Shimada Ryo completed the men’s elite podium of the championships that gathered more than 500 athletes in Asia.
“My congratulations to Patrick, he’s been working hard and his dedication and passion for BMX is getting stronger each day,” said Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, also head of the national association for cycling, PhilCycling.
Coo thanked Tolentino and the Philippine Sports Commission for their massive support to his campaign focused on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.