Coimbatore boy J.K. Aswin has made the city proud by bagging two medals in the just concluded Track Asia Cup at New Delhi.

The only cyclist from Tamil Nadu in the 25-member national team, Aswin was part of the team that won Gold in the men’s junior team sprint with 47.397s that had three laps. He won bronze medal in individual sprint of 200 meters. Aswin finished in 11.098s with 64.877km/hr speed.

India topped the medals table with seven gold, 9 silver, and 5 bronze medals. Twelve Asian countries participated in the three-day event that began on October 10.

Talking about his passion, Aswin said he started developing interest in the sport nine years ago. “My entire family supported me. In fact, my parents are a source of inspiration from me. They regularly cycle. Looking at them, I developed interest in cycling,” he said.

Aswin’s father Krishnamoorthi is a technician at State Express Transport Corporation (Tamil Nadu) and his mother Hemalatha is a teacher in a Government school.

For past three years, Aswin has been training under national coach R.K. Sharma. “I have been training under him for past three years and this year as part of training we went to Germany. The training we received in Germany was very good. It gave the Indian team a very good exposure,” Aswin added.

Thanking Sri Ramakrishna College, where he is pursuing his BBA, Aswin said without the support of the teachers and the college management he would not have reached this level. “They have been very supportive and encouraging since the beginning. In fact I was away for three months, missing classes, during various training sessions. They help me a lot in coping up with everything,” he said and added that the sport has been receiving good support and gaining popularity in India.

Aswin also participated in the Asian Championship in February this year.