Indian teenager Esow Alben brings home maiden world track cycling medal for India; creates history

Aigle, August 18: Young athletes are making India proud across the world. Young and talented cyclist Esow Alben on Friday created history by claiming India's first ever medal at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships which was held at Aigle, Switzerland.

 

The 17-year-old Esow Alben, who hails from Andaman and Nicobar bagged the silver medal at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships. Esow was only 0.017 seconds adrift of Czech Republic's Jakub Stastny, who bagged the gold medal in the finals. However, Esow had put enormous pressure on Czech Republic's Jakub Stastny in the finals before settling for the silver medal. Kazakhstan's Andrey Chugay won the bronze medal.

After winning the silver medal, Esow Alben said that it's a big medal for me and for India too. Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore congratulated Esow for his achievement. In his tweet, the Sports Minister wished many more medals come Esow's way.

Esow trains in Delhi at the Sports Authority of India's National Cycling Academy. He became the world No. 1 junior sprint cyclist at the Asian Track Championships, the 2018 Cottbuser Sprint Cup 2 and GP Brno Track Cycling competitions.

Clinching the gold medal at in the 400 m finals at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships, the 18-year-old Indian sprinter Hima Das on July 12 scripted a history. Hima Das has become first Indian to win Gold in a track event.