Australian cyclists win six gold medals at track world championships

Anna Meares competing in the women's sprint event at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

10 Australian cyclists on the winner's podium after winning gold medals at the 2010 track world championships

Australian cyclists Anna Meares, Kaarle McCulloch, , Josephine Tomic, Sarah Kent, Ashlee Ankudinoff (first row, left to right) and Travis Meyer, Rohan Dennis, Leigh Howard, Michael Hepburn and Jack Bobridge (second row, left to right) were among the gold medal winners at the 2010 track world championships

30 Mar 2010

Current and former Australian Institute of Sport cyclists have taken out six gold medals between them with an incredible performance at the 2010 UCI Track World Championships held 24–28 March in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The AIS medal winners included Anna Meares, Kaarle McCulloch, Cameron Meyer, Jack Bobridge, Rohan Dennis, Michael Hepburn, Leigh Howard, Josephine Tomic, Ashlee Ankudinoff and Sarah Kent.

Australia topped the championships medal tally with six gold, two silver and two bronze medals finishing ahead of arch rivals Great Britain in second place (three gold, five silver and one bronze.

The Australian ‘Cyclones’ track cycling team included 15 current and 2 former AIS athletes.

Among the outstanding results, Anna Meares claimed gold and regained her world title in the women’s 500-metre time trial on 24 March, before partnering with Kaarle McCulloch to win the women’s team sprint gold in world record time on the following day.

The Australian’s also scored confidence boosting gold medal wins ahead of the 2012 London Olympics with victories in both the men’s and women’s team pursuits on 25 and 26 March respectively.

The AIS played a key role in this latest cycling success.

‘If you look back the progression from Poland last year to here has been good and there have been some great efforts across the board particularly Anna Meares, what a fantastic athlete and Cameron Meyer with three gold medals,’ said Cycling Australia National Performance Director, Shayne Bannan.

‘Overall in the Olympic disciplines we're extremely happy but there are some areas we've identified during the week that we need to work on.’

The AIS Track Cycling program based in Adelaide supports the training and development of the nation’s best sprint cyclists providing access to leading coaching and sports science expertise and world-class training facilities like the Adelaide Super–Drome.

The AIS works in partnership with Cycling Australia to deliver a high performance track cycling program.

The AIS provides $1.4 million in funding annually to support the track and road cycling programs for men and women.