Cycling world champion wins NSW Young Athlete of the Year

Newly-crowned Youth Athlete of the Year, Tom Cornish, said he is still in disbelief, three months after breaking the world record for the under 19 1km time trial.

Tom Cornish winning the Clarence Street Cyclery Cup at the Dunc Gray Velodrome in Bass Hill. Picture: Stu Baker/Cycling NSW

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NEWLY crowned Youth Athlete of the Year, Tom Cornish, said he is still pinching himself in disbelief three months after breaking the world cycling record for the under 19 1km time trial.

Cornish, 18, who has trained at Bass Hill’s Dunc Gray Velodrome since he was eight, lowered the world record to 1:00.489 seconds at the UCI world championships in Aigle, Switzerland, in August.

He also captured gold in the team sprint, silver in the individual sprint and bronze in the keirin at the world Championships.

Cornish was named Young Athlete of the Year at the NSW Champions of Sport ceremony.

On Wednesday night, the NSW Institute of Sports cyclist was again stunned when he was named Young Athlete of the Year at the NSW Champions of Sport ceremony at Rosehill Gardens.

“I was unable to attend the ceremony so my dad and mum received the award on my behalf,’ Cornish told the Express.

“I have moved to Adelaide for full time training in preparation for the Olympics and world championships selections.

“I am pretty happy to win this award as I was not expecting to get it.

“I still cannot believe that I broke the under 19 world record in Switzerland, it’s sort of disbelief for me.”

Cornish, who also competes in sprint and team sprint, said that sometimes it is difficult to control their machines when they are hitting speeds as high as 70km/h in their events.

“It takes a lot of core strength and general strength,” said Cornish, who stands 184cm tall and weighs around 85kg.

Kaarle McCulloch and Cornish after winning the Clarence Street Cyclery Cup women’s and men’s races. Picture: Stu Baker/Cycling NSW

Cornish credits his elder brother Josh — a former national cycling champion — for being his big inspiration, having began competitive racing when he was just six years old. Their dad Gordon also loved cycling but did not compete like his talented sons.

Along the way, Cornish, who trained regularly at Cycling NSW’s headquarters at Bass Hill for more than a decade, won slew of state and national titles culminating in his world record and junior world title in Switzerland.

“My next big event is the World Cup in Hong Kong at the end of January and I hope I will be selected for the team,” said Cornish, who grew up in Menai.

“I will now be based in Adelaide though my family are all based in Sydney.

“I train around six hours a day during the week.”

Two-time paddling Olympian Jessica Fox — who is a former NewsLocal Junior Sports Star winner — and double paratriathlon World Cup event winner Lauren Parker respectively took home the Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Year with a Disability awards at the NSW Champions of Sport ceremony.

Swimmer, Tim Hodge was named Young Athlete of the Year with a Disability after a capturing a pair of Commonwealth Games silver medals in the 100m freestyle (S9) and 100m breaststroke (SB8).