KUALA LUMPUR: Olympian Josiah Ng said Malaysia should strengthen BMX development to complement its track cycling programme.
While the Malaysia National Cycling Federation (MNCF) seeks RM2 million from the government for its road programme to qualify riders for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Josiah believes that the development of the BMX discipline is equally important.
He pointed out that the success from the country's track cycling programme is a sign that focus should be given accordingly to BMX.
"Malaysia has shown results from the track sprint events, it's tougher for Asian physiology for endurance discipline (road cycling). We have seen Japanese athletes doing well in the sprint discipline in the 1980s and after that we have Azizulhasni (Awang) in sprint," said the former Commonwealth and Asian champion.
"Track programme gets support from the National Sports Council, so the focus should be on BMX. The BMX discipline is also offered from Sea Games-level to Asian Games and to the Olympics.
"BMX athletes can also be converted to the track sprint. Development of BMX riders could expand the pool of athletes for track events as well.
"We need to be laser-focused on what we want to do with the funds when our resources are limited compared to other sports. Track events have produced results and this should be the key area."
The 44-year-old Josiah said if MNCF could plan and execute its programmes well, Malaysia could have world class BMX riders competing in the Olympics.
"We have the talent, we just need to discover and polish them into world beaters. MNCF needs to come out with proper road maps and vision for the future," he added.