HARIPUR: Four-time national champion and South Asian silver medal-winning cyclist Sabiha Zahid died at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Rawalpindi after losing her battle with cancer and was laid to rest in her native village Pinyan in Haripur on Sunday.

Her funeral prayers was largely attended by officials of the Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF), fellow cyclists from Pakistan Army including team captain Nadir, president KP Cycling Association Nisar Ahmad and international cyclist Nusrat Khan among others.

Sabiha, 32, had first appeared as an upcoming cyclist at the 2013 KP Inter-Divisional Cycling Championship where she won gold medal for Hazara Division.

PCF office-bearers expressed their condolences. The federation’s secretary general Syed Azhar Ali Shah termed Sabiha’s death as ‘a great loss to the cycling sport in Pakistan’.

Consistent performances helped Sabiha secure a place in the Pakistan Army cycling team.

She proved her selection by winning the National Championship in individual time trials in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. She also played a key role in the Team Championship held in Peshawar in 2018.

Sabiha represented Pakistan in the World Cycling Academy in Korea. She also won the bronze medal in the Asian individual time trials held in India and was member of the Pakistan cycling team that won silver medal in the Asian Team Championship.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2019