30 Mar 2009

Australia has topped the medal tally at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, held in Pruszkow, Poland on 26–29 March.

Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) cyclists Jack Bobridge, Leigh Howard, Anna Meares and Josephine Tomic produced stunning results, helping Australia to win four gold and silver medals and two bronze.

Victorian young gun Leigh Howard won a stunning gold in the men’s omnium, which consists of five races over one gruelling day.

Howard had a good start to the event, coming in fourth place in the 200–metre time trial sprint. His second place in the 7.5-kilometre scratch race then put him in the overall lead.

An eighth in the 3000-metre individual pursuit dropped Howard to second place overall but he quickly regained the lead with a second in the 15-kilometre points race. His victory was confirmed with a third place time of 3.533 seconds in the 1000-metre time trial which was enough to beat Canadian Zachary Bell to the world title.

Howard was thrilled with the race: ‘I was extremely happy with my performance today. Last year I was very disappointed with my points race but I made up for that this year getting second and getting the extra points I needed going into the last event.’

Howard also teamed up with Cameron Meyer to win a silver medal in the men’s Madison, and both cyclists joined Jack Bobridge and Rohan Dennis to win silver in the men’s team pursuit. Jack Bobridge also performed well on his own, taking the silver medal in the men’s individual pursuit.

Fellow AIS cyclist Josephine Tomic won another gold for Australia in the women’s omnium. She began strong with a personal best time in the 200-metre time trial (sixth place) but fell down a little in the 5-kilometre scratch race (eighth place) and 3000-metre individual pursuit (fourth place).

Fortunately the West Australian teenager came back strongly in the 15-kilometre points race (second place) and her time of 36.75 seconds (seventh place) in the 500-metre time trial was just enough for her to snatch first place from Canadian Tara Whitten.

Other AIS cyclists Anna Meares and Kaarle McCulloch performed brilliantly in the women’s team sprint final, beating UK defending champions Shanaze Reade and Victoria Pendleton and claiming gold with a world-best time of 33.149 seconds. Anna Meares also cycled to victory on her own, winning silver in the women’s 500-metre time trial.

Australia’s terrific performance at the track cycling world championships has further buoyed medal hopes for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi on 3–14 October.

Medals won by AIS cyclists at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships

Gold:

• Anna Meares and Kaarle McCulloch — women’s team sprint 
• Josephine Tomic — women’s omnium
• Leigh Howard — men’s omnium.

Silver:

• Anna Meares — women’s 500-metre time trial
• Jack Bobridge — men’s 4000-metre individual pursuit
• Jack Bobridge, Leigh Howard, Cameron Meyer and Rohan Dennis — men’s 4000-metre team pursuit
• Cameron Meyer and Leigh Howard — men’s 50-kilometre Madison.

Bronze:

• Josephine Tomic, Sarah Kent and Ashlee Ankudinoff — women’s team pursuit
• Belinda Goss — women’s 10-kilometre scratch race.