Rebecca Wiesak grabs gold for Australia in individual pursuit at track cycling world titles
AUSTRALIA’S Rebecca Wiasak notched back-to-back gold medals in the individual pursuit at the track cycling world championships in London overnight.
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AUSTRALIA’S Rebecca Wiasak notched back-to-back gold medals in the individual pursuit at the track cycling world championships in London on Thursday.
Wiasak qualified fastest then dominated her final against Polish rider Malgorzata Wojtyra to win by more than seven seconds in the time of 3mins 34.09 secs.
The field was missing several of Australia and the world’s best pursuit riders, who instead are focusing on the team event, given the individual pursuit is no longer on the Olympic program, but Wiasak, 31, showed her class with a convincing win.
Her triumph made up for an otherwise quiet opening day for Australia, in which it missed the medals in both the men’s and women’s team sprints.
The new-look combination of Nathan Hart, Matthew Glaetzer and Pat Constable rode to fifth in the three-man men’s event while Anna Meares and Stephanie Morton rode reigning Olympic champion Germany for bronze and finished fourth.
World champion New Zealand successfully defended its men’s title, while China won gold in the women’s event.
There was, however, better news for Australia’s men’s team pursuiters who qualified second fastest behind arch rival Great Britain by just 0.2 of a second.
World championship debutants Alex Porter and Sam Welsford combined with Michael Hepburn and Miles Scotson to post a scorching time of 3mins 55.867 over the 4km race against the clock.
They were bettered only by Great Britain, led by Tour de France winning superstar Bradley Wiggins, which rode 3:55.664 ahead of round one and finals tomorrow.
Australia will race defending champion New Zealand in round one en route to an anticipated showdown with the host nation for gold at London’s Lee Valley VeloPark — the scene of the 2012 Olympics.
“I think we had a good ride, certainly for qualifying it was quick,” Hepburn said.
“Pacing-wise we executed it as we had planned, whether you qualify one, two or three there is not a big difference.
“We had our plan and we just wanted to stick to our schedule and get four guys through the race, which is basically what we did.”
Originally published as Rebecca Wiesak grabs gold for Australia in individual pursuit at track cycling world titles
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