(2nd LD) (Asiad) Shin Ji-eun wins bronze in cycling for S. Korea's 1st medal

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's first medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games came from road cycling on Sunday, as Shin Ji-eun grabbed bronze in the women's individual time trial event.

Shin finished third with a time of 36:56.14 at Shinshiro Cycling Road Course in Shinshiro, some 60 kilometers east of the main host city, Nagoya.

Rinata Sultanova of Kazakhstan claimed the gold medal in 36:23.72, and Zhang Hao of China won silver in 36:28.40.
"I felt pretty confident because I knew I had never wasted a moment ever since I started preparing for this competition," Shin said. "This was my first individual race at an Asian Games and I am very grateful for this result."

Sunday is the first day of the medal race following the opening ceremony from the previous night.

South Korea is targeting around 45 gold medals at this year's Asiad, which will conclude Oct. 4.

In Sunday's race, Shin covered her first lap in 12:58.31 to rank fourth. She moved up to third after finishing her second lap in 11:51.39 and came home in 12:06.44 to clinch her bronze medal.

"Honestly, I had no idea I would be in medal contention," Shin said. "I was so exhausted. All I wanted to do was to cross the finish line as soon as possible."

Shin, 24, came into the Asian Games in strong form. She finished third in the individual road race and fourth in the individual time trial at the Asian Road Cycling Championships in Saudi Arabia this past February. Then at the Asian Track Cycling Championships in the Philippines in March, Shin won bronze in omnium and helped South Korea finish fourth in team pursuit.

At the Asian Games, Shin will now move to track events, with madison, omnium and team pursuit on the horizon.
Shin said she will return to South Korea this week before returning to Japan for the track races beginning Sept. 29.

"Since track races are main events, I want to compete with even more confidence and put on great performances," Shin said.