Patrick Gerard Lee won a bronze medal for the Philippines in the men’s C5 scratch race at the Asian Cycling Confederation Track and Para Track Cycling Championships on Sunday, March 29, at the Tagaytay City Velodrome, marking the country’s first medal in the competition and earning points toward qualification for the 2028 Paralympics.
Lee finished behind gold medalist Azimbek Abdullaev of Uzbekistan and silver medalist Ruito Kameda of Japan in a race decided by a photo finish. Fellow Filipino Joel Inn Tacutaco placed fifth in the 14-rider field.
Lee, 21, lost his right forearm in an accident as a child and is competing in his first continental tournament with the national para cycling team.
Earlier in the event, Zedrick Ivan Honorica set a new Philippine record in the men’s elite sprint, clocking 10.865 seconds and surpassing the previous mark of 11.42 seconds set by Jan Paul Morales at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
Honorica, a delivery rider, used a bicycle he assembled from personal earnings. He qualified for the national team after responding to an online invitation for tryouts posted by national coach Virgilio Espiritu earlier this year.
Honorica placed 21st out of 22 riders in the event, which was won by Japan’s Kaiya Ota with a time of 9.348 seconds.
