Ota sets Asian sprint record, bags goldTAGAYTAY, Philippines — Japan’s Kaiya Ota earned his niche in the Tagaytay CT Velodrome by setting a new Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Track Cycling Championships elite men sprint record in the qualifying round before eventually winning the gold medal with relative ease. Ota clocked 9.348 seconds in Sunday’s qualifiers to smash the previous Asian mark of 9.350 seconds he himself set at the Paris Olympics in August 2024. The two-time Asian Games gold medalist went on to win gold but was unable to submit a better time at 9.575 seconds, but good enough to deny China’s Li Zhiwei (9.926) an upset ride. Ota’s fellow Japanese Olympians also stamped their class in elite men and women Madison in the championships hosted by the PhilCycling and Tagaytay City and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, MVP Sports Foundation, Sports Plus PH, Toyota and Peak. Eiya Hashimoto and Kazushige Kuboki produced a masterful performance in winning the elite men Madison gold with 104 points – Kazakhstan’s Ilya Karabutov and Ramis Dinmukhametov settled for the silver medal with 82 points and Hong Kong’s Tsu Wai Chu and Kai Kwong Tso completed the podium with 65 points.

Source: Philippine Star March 30, 2026 16:04 UTC