TRACK | Sprinters power to gold at #TrackNats in Brisbane

The AusCycling Track National Championships was contested over five days of cycling action at the Anna Meares Velodrome from 24-28 March.

Clonan claims triple crown on hometrack

Queensland’s sprint queen Kristina Clonan notched a trifecta of individual national titles after winning the elite women’s keirin, sprint and time trial, plus grabbing silver in the team sprint. 

In the keirin, the Podium Potential Academy's Clonan hit the front early in the keirin 1-6 final and never wavered in speed despite a valiant effort from Felice Beitzel, who would finish second, as well as Lara Tucker. The sprint sensation has a chance to win a fourth gold medal today in the elite women’s team sprint as a member of the Queensland team.

“I saw Lara come around and thought, oh, this is going to hurt, and it did – but yeah, it was good. It was a proactive race with people trying things. This is the place to try it, and I just think that’s great. I just love when people are gutsy.”

In the sprint, the Queenslander overcame her idol and mentor Kaarle McCulloch in the semi-final before defeating South Australia’s Breanna Hargrave in the gold medal final.

​“Kaarle is my idol, and when I switched over (to sprint), she was a really great mentor for me and really took me under her wing so I’m forever grateful. To race against her is just awesome.”

Cornish powers under a minute; claims dual crowns 

Thomas Cornish, a member of the Australian Cycling Team’s Podium Potential Academy, scorched the track with a time of 59.598secs en route to winning the elite men’s 1000m time trial title.

The history books were rewritten on the opening night firstly through the Victorian under 19 women’s team pursuit outfit smashing the clock with a time of 4mins 32.984secs.

“I’m absolutely stoked to have gone under (the minute) by half a second almost … it’s unbelievable – I can’t really describe it to be honest. I was not expecting it.” 

A scintillating performance from sprint Cornish  catapulted New South Wales to the elite men’s team sprint title.

Cornish, the third and final rider in the New South Wales team sprint train, overturned a seemingly unreachable deficit of 1.4 seconds to South Australia in the final pulsating lap of the gold medal final ignited the Anna Meares Velodrome crowd.

The Sutherland Shire speedster posted the fastest final lap split of the day when it mattered most, with a time of 12.748secs.

“Full credit to the boys, they delivered me pretty well, and we were within distance with one to go, and I just went through and managed to bring it home, which was good.

Richo defends sprint crown; double up in keirin

Matthew Richardson successfully defended his Australian sprint title at the 2021 AusCycling Track National Championships in dominant fashion.

The Western Australian’s undefeated run to gold was a display of pure speed and sprinter’s instincts that highlighted his potential to be Australia’s next big star on the track.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic games team member defeated Malaysian and former keirin world champion Mohd Azizulhasni Awang in the gold medal final.

In the keirin, the Malaysian one-two punch of Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and Muhummas Shar proved too much to handle with Shar taking gold and Awang the silver. Richardson finished in the bronze medal position and was crowned the national champion.

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