Thailand have booked two places at the UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai next month, after the national sprint team and a lone rider in the men’s 1km time trial earned qualification on the back of strong recent form.
The men’s team sprint squad, ranked 15th in the world, secured their spot through the season’s accumulated world rankings, giving Thai cycling a platform to build towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The quotas from the world governing body have come in the wake of a brilliant effort by the Thai cyclists at last month’s Track Asia Cup 2026 where they won three golds, one silver and two bronze medals to take over fourth spot in the continental rankings.
Gen Decha Hemkrasri, vice-president of the Asian Cycling Confederation, president of the Asean Cycling Federation and president of the Thailand Cycling Association, said the world championships, to be held at Shanghai’s velodrome from Oct 14-18, follow hard on the heels of the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, where the same sprint trio — Jai Angsuthasawit, Norasetthada Bunma and Yuenyong Phetcharat — will compete in the team sprint, keirin and individual sprint events between Sept 29 and Oct 2.
According to Gen Decha, the riders will return home from Japan to train before flying to Shanghai on Oct 9, four days ahead of official practice.
Jutatip Maneephan will take on her first full-time role as team manager and head coach, with Thanat Nakmanee serving as team mechanic.
Gen Decha stressed the importance of the team sprint result, noting that only eight nations will qualify for the event at Los Angeles 2028 based on points accumulated across the world championships, World Cup rounds and continental championships through to April 2028. A top-eight finish would also open the door to Olympic slots in the keirin and individual sprint.
However, he sounded a note of caution over funding, warning that budget shortfalls hampered Thailand’s ranking-points campaign during 2026 and could again threaten Olympic qualification hopes across cycling’s four disciplines — road, track, mountain bike and BMX racing.
Thai riders qualified in three cycling disciplines — road, track and BMX racing — for Paris 2024, but Gen Decha said continued funding difficulties risked stalling that progress.