China's cyclist Jiang Yonghua broke the world record on her way to winning the women's 500-meter time trial at the 2002 Track Cycling World Cup Sunday in Kunming.
Jiang's time of 34 seconds bettered the previous mark of 34.010 seconds set by French Felicia Ballanger in Bordeaux, France on August 29, 1998.
Jiang wasn't aware of her standout performance until she knew the result from her coach Wang Yongqing.
"On rushing at the end point, I saw my coach was very happy and I realized the result may be not bad, " said Jiang. " but I still cannot imagine of a world record at that moment."
"I did not have my best performance in today's race, I think I can do better next time," she said, adding that her aim is to win the gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Wang, also manager of the Chinese national cycling team, said that Jiang could have broken the barrier of 33 seconds if there were a better weather condition.
German Freitag Kathrin won the silver medal with 34.711 seconds, and Hijgenaar Yuonne of the Netherlands finished third in 35.448 seconds.
(People's Daily August 12, 2002)
