Josiah Ng

Josiah Ng Onn Lam (simplified Chinese: 伍安临; traditional Chinese: 伍安臨; pinyin: Wǔ Ānlín) (born 2 February 1980) is a retired Malaysian professional track cyclist and one of the best-known professional track cyclists in the Asia.

Josiah was the first Malaysian to make it into the cycling Olympic finals becoming a three-time Olympian, representing Malaysia at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. In 2004 he was awarded the Malaysian Olympian and Sportsman of the Year after being the 1st Malaysian cyclist to make a final in cycling at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2010 Josiah won gold at the Commonwealth Games, New Delhi in Keirin at age 30.

He is known to have put Malaysia on the map as one of the best countries for developing world-class track cyclists.

In 2008, he became the first non-Australian to win the 72nd Melbourne Cup on Wheels at the HiSense Arena in Melbourne.

Early life

Josiah had loved cycling since the young age of five years old, as it represented freedom for him.

At age 14, he eventually realised his dreams and bought a used racing bike for USD$250. He entered his first criterium racing at age 15. Josiah comes from a very traditional Chinese family and didn’t get the support of his parents in his chosen career path. He would often sneak out of the house when they had gone to sleep to walk to where his bike was stored 4 km away. At age 18, his father asked him to leave home and wished him luck with his endeavours. He survived by taking on odd jobs where he could, including teaching violin.

At age 20 he represented Malaysia for the first time at the Asian Championships in Shanghai.

Cycling career

In 2002, Josiah applied for an IOC scholarship to train at the World Cycling Centre in Switzerland under world-renowned coach, Fred Magne.

Josiah first popped up on the international cycling stage by becoming the first Malaysian to qualify for the finals in the Athens Olympics in 2004. He carved a name for himself in Keirin events by winning a number of important events, giving him the best Malaysian record to date.

Crowned as the Olympian of the Year for his achievement in Athens, Josiah Ng had also won a silver medal at the Busan Asian Games in South Korea in 2002.

He went on to win a silver medal from Keirin at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar (2006) and won a gold medal in the same event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

In 2008, he became the first non-Australian to win the Melbourne Cup on Wheels at the HiSense Arena in Melbourne. Ng took the lead with two laps to go in the eight-lap event, clutching his win Australia’s dual Olympic gold medallist Graeme Brown, who finished second in the 2000m handicap event.

After his cycling career, in February 2016, Josiah endorsed Malaysian fitness app ‘Fitness In My Pocket.’

Following a social media uproar about a RM10 mock cheque prize for a local Malaysian cycling event for children, Josiah chimed in about his entire journey that there is more to cycling competitively than winning prize money.

Retirement

In 2015 Josiah retired from competition at age 35 announcing at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling Asian Championships in Korat, Thailand that the 2015 World Championships would be his last outing in the sport.

Josiah’s last race was at the World Track Cycling Championships in Paris in February 2015.

Coaching

Apart from securing medals for Malaysia, Josiah has played an integral part in developing Malaysia’s high performance program, where he scouted out the staff and hired their current head coach, John Beasley, from Australia. Josiah then moved the national team to Australia eight years ago and they have been training there ever since.

Accidents

Four months before he was due to compete at the Athens Olympics 2004, Josiah endured a crash in which he broke his wrist, teeth, nose and lost a lot of blood. He was in the intensive care unit for several days.

On 30 March 2007, Josiah broke his collarbone in a nasty crash in the first round of the Keirin event at the World Track Cycling Championships in Mallorca Spain. He was stretchered off the piste and taken to the hospital immediately and was ruled out of the competition after Italian Roberto Chiappa cut into his path and knocked him down.

During the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Mexico Dec 2013 Josiah endured another severe crash in which suffered a punctured lung (Pneumothorax), broken collarbone (same one in Mallorca, Spain April 2007 during the World Championships), 2 broken ribs and a concussion.

Entrepreneurship

5Bling

Josiah owns and designed 5Bling, which is a glove that meets the tough demands and technical elements of track cycling. Before this, there were no specific gloves for track cycling. The name 5Bling comes from Josiah’s surname (Ng) in Cantonese. Now, more than half of the world’s top track cyclists now use his glove. The include World and Olympic Champions such as Anna Meares, Kaarle McCulloch, Shane Perkins, Teun Mulder, Mikael Bourgain, Simona Krupeckait and many more. Shortly after starting the company, he secured one of the industries leading specialty distributor, Euro Asia Imports to promote and distribute his gloves worldwide.

Spectacam

Spectacam is a dual view sports helmet camera, the idea for which came from a topic that a helmet mount camera is insufficient. Spectacam is still looking for further funding. The project has been put on hold due to other entrepreneurial focus.

Intertain

Josiah and his wife Kim Ong have co-founded Intertain in 2015. The food tech platform allows people to book some of Australia’s best chefs to cook at their home. The platform currently operates in Melbourne and Sydney.

Personal life

Josiah Ng is married to Kim Ong, a Digital Marketing Manager from Malaysia. They met when Kim saw Josiah in a FedEx advert (one of his sponsors) in The Sun. She 'Googled' his name and left a comment on his guestbook congratulating him. He replied via email and they have been chatting ever since.

Josiah proposed on April 1, 2008 on the London Eye. They were married a year later in 2009.

Achievements

Awards

• 2004 Malaysian Olympian of the Year
• 2004 Malaysian Sportsman of the Year
• UCI Track World Cup Ranking
• Keirin Year 2002 to 2003 – Ranked No.1
• Keirin Year 2004 to 2005 – Ranked No. 3
• Keirin Year 2005 – 2006 – Ranked No.1
• 9 times World Cup Medalist
• Nominee of "Most Outstanding Youth of the Year 2007" AYA Awards

Sponsors

Josiah’s sponsors were National Sports Council of Malaysia, 5bling.com, Nike, Euro-Asia Imports, Oakley and RBC Sport.

In 2006, Josiah signed a sponsorship deal with FedEx Express. In 2008, after much exposure from the FedEx sponsorship, Josiah was approached by Nike and was subsequently featured on the Damansara Heights billboard for a month during Beijing Olympics 2008. In that same year also, Josiah was featured in a media advertorial that saw him endorsing the advantages of using Nivea for men.