Tuesday, 26th August 2008 - 11:16CET

Gold medallist had taken part in Tour of Malta

British cyclist Nicole Cooke would never have dreamt of winning gold in Beijing when, barely 17 years old, she took part and won the Tour of Malta eight years ago.

It was the first time that the tour was open for female cyclists and the young Ms Cooke, representing Letchworth Schils, won the tour convincingly, proving that she could be a future cycling star.

Nicole Cooke, born on April 13, 1983 in Swansea, Wales, won the Female Road Race in Beijing, which was run in very bad weather, to give Great Britain the first Olympic medal out of a haul of 19 golds won in Beijing. The race was run over 126 kilometres, with 66 cyclists taking part and Cooke winning in 3 hours 32 minutes 24 seconds.

Marthese Caruana, secretary of the Tour of Malta, congratulated Ms Cooke for her success and invited her to be the guest of honour for the next edition of the Tour of Malta which will take place in March.

This invitation will be passed on personally to Ms Cooke by Jon Miles, the man behind Ms Cooke’s participation in the Tour of Malta. Mr Miles has been working very closely with the Malta Cycling Federation and the Tour of Malta Organising Committee for many years towards the development of this sport in Malta.

Mr Miles will be giving the invitation Ms Cooke today during a special reception being held in her honour in Cardiff.

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Article © Allied Newspapers Ltd., printed on Sunday, November 22, 2009. This article is for personal use only, and should not be distributed.

Comments

Maria Vella (on 27/8/08)

@ M Aquilina

probably....or when the MOC decides to actually send more athletes than officials, most of whom are there just for the ride

M Aquilina (on 26/8/08)

My optimism and encouragement are assured. Good luck for 2012

John Zammit (on 26/8/08)

As organisers of the Tour we are very proud to hear that the first Gold medal for Britain was won by Nicole Cook who was the winner of the 2000 Tour Ta' Malta this shows the high level standard of cyclists which take part in our tours. We believe that this is the way to improve our local standards which is of enthusiasts spending most of their free time and most of their one money to maintain their bikes with out sponsorship.

Robert Grech (on 26/8/08)

With your optimistic support and encouragement, I'm afraid yes.

M. Aquilina (on 26/8/08)

Is this the closest Malta can get to Olymic Gold ?