There was no medal from the Sea Games BMX track in Jakarta but the signs are there -- that Malaysia will soon grow in that discipline.
National men's champion Mohd Aim Mohd Fauzi did well to make the final but had to accept that his fifth place finish was a just reward considering the level of the opposition.
Women's entry Masziyaton Mohd Radzi missed out on the bronze medal, having made her way on Thursday to Ancol from Subang where she competed in road events after winning the women's cross country mountain bike silver medal in Bogor last Sunday.
It was a promising outcome for Masziyaton who only got to test the Ancol track once on Thursday before the competition.
This was one Olympic cycling discipline that Malaysia had overlooked as Indonesia and Thailand began to experience rapid growth in form with more professional set-ups and training regimes based at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle Switzerland.
Indonesia swept the gold and silver medals in the men's event through Buamin and Tony Syarifudin, while Thailand's Narong Klinsurai took the bronze.
Masziyaton was in the bronze medal position before being passed by Indonesia's Suswanti, whose compatriot Elga Kharisma Nova took the gold ahead of Thailand's Vipavee Deekaballe.
"Of course we came here with a target to fight for a medal. But compared to the Indonesians and Thais, we definitely did not have the chance to experience that level of preparation," said Mohd Aim.
"Still it was good to see how far away we are and looking at the final, surprisingly there's not too big a gap. If we get the support to push BMX racing forward with sufficient facilities and better racing programmes, this is a discipline we can dominate."
The cycling programme continues with the track events at the Rawamangun Velodrome today where Malaysia are expected to deliver at least three gold medals.
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