Japanese speedskater Toyoki Takeda is set to play a double act on the ice and cycling track, after passing an entrance examination for a keirin cycling school Wednesday.
Takeda, who finished eighth in the men's 500 meters at last month's Salt Lake City Olympics, cleared the first hurdle to become a professional cyclist on his second attempt but said he will also aim for a place in Olympic speedskating in Turin, Italy, in 2004.
Takeda is the first winter Olympic athlete to enter the keirin school since short track speedskater Hitoshi Uematsu, the men's 500-meter bronze medalist at the 1998 Nagano Games, did so two years ago.