MANILA — Patrick Coo furthered his status as one of the rising stars of cycling after his second-place finish in the 2024 Asian Cycling Confederation BMX Championships in Thailand.

"I'm so blessed and I'm happy that all my hard work is paying off," said Coo, an Olympic Solidarity scholar who spent most of the year at the UCI World Cycling Center in Aigle, Switzerland, for his training and traveling the globe for his competitions.

This came after the 22-year-old won the men's elite bronze medal last year at the Hangzhou Asian Games and the gold medal he captured as a junior rider in the 2019 Asian championships in Malaysia.

Topping the tilt at the Kamol Sports Park in Nong Chok on Friday was Thailand's BMX ace Komet Sukprasert, who won his third straight Asian championships gold medal as he gears up for the Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, Shimada Ryo of Japan finished third and completed the men's elite podium of the championships that gathered more than 500 athletes in Asia.

Coo, who is looking to improve his bid for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, was also hailed by Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino.

"My congratulations to Patrick, he's been working hard and his dedication and passion for BMX is getting stronger each day," said Tolentino, who also serves as the head of the national association for cycling, PhilCycling.