Athlete cyclist and PTI GDC Dr. Mohd. Akbar Khan (PTI GDC Soibugh) has been selected as National Technical Official (NTO) for the upcoming 41st Asian Track Cycling Championship to be held at Indira Gandhi stadium in New Delhi from June 18 to 22 June 2022.
Khan is currently serving as Physical Trainer Instructor (PTI) at Government Degree College Soibugh, Budgam.
While confirming to Rising Kashmir Akbar Khan, said that he has been selected 9th in the list along with other 22 national technical officials (NTOs) for the upcoming 41st Asian Track Cycling Championship which is to be held at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.
“The event is going to be Asia’s biggest cycling event in which participants from around 40 countries are expected to be participating,” he claimed.
Earlier, the Cycling Federation of India conducted a two-week online course for technical officials. Dr. Khan got selected after completing the course and qualified for the exam conducted by the Cycling Federation of India.
29-year- old Akbar hails from Check-i-Kawoosa, in central Kashmir’s Budgam district has given cycling a facelift in Kashmir and has also bagged the J&K State award in 2017 for his contribution to cycling (Sports).
Khan, an acclaimed cyclist, started cycling in 2006 and since then he has been a cyclist for more than a decade and always wanted to study cycling for a better understanding of the sport.
The Kashmir resident’s academic and cycling journey began when his elder brother, Feroz A Khan, now a sports teacher at Srinagar’s Burn Hall School, was awarded a gold medal after winning an inter-college race.
“My brother’s accomplishment in cycling strongly encouraged me to follow in his footsteps,” Khan said.
He learned cycling and spent a significant amount of time hitting the roads with a strong desire to improve his skills.
“My efforts began to pay off when I won three consecutive gold medals for Amar Singh College after winning back-to-back inter-college cycling championships,” he added.
Khan’s performance as a cyclist for Amar Singh College helped him gain admission to the Government College of Physical Education, Ganderbal, under the Sports Category.
“The next milestone in my academic career was when I won two gold medals at the All India Inter-Cycling Championships at Guru Nanak Dev University,” he said, adding, “the university recognized my outstanding performance in the event with free admission to the MPEd program.”
Khan the “Steadfast Athlete” completed his studies in 2018, but his thirst to understand the nuances of the sport at a deeper level took him one step ahead.
He enrolled himself at Shri Venkateshwara University, Uttar Pradesh for a Ph.D. Program. He chose to research the topic “Structure of a Cyclist and Cycling in India, which he completed in the current year.”
President, Cycling Association of Jammu and Kashmir Ravinder Singh has congratulated Akbar Khan for getting selected as NTO in the Asian Track cycling championship 2022.
