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.

Australia has finished the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships with three medals after Stephanie Morton won a bronze medal in the final event of the Championships, the women's keirin.

Morton's bronze added to the team sprint silver won with Kaarle McCulloch on the opening day of competition. All three of Australia's medals came through the sprint squad with Nathan Hart, Matthew Richardson, and Thomas Cornish winning team sprint bronze on day one. 

Despite Australia exiting a Track World Championships without a gold medal for the first time in twelve years, Australian Cycling Team Performance Director Simon Jones remains focussed on the team's overarching strategy which is aiming to deliver success at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

"Australia has had a pretty glittering history of winning world titles - in 2017 we won more world titles than you could poke a stick at and that is not what we are trying to achieve this year," Jones said. 

"We want to win in Tokyo. Yes, we were aiming for podium performances here, or very close to, and you can't hide the fact we have come up short in some areas. But we have to learn from it. 

"We tried several different things here, and we have to settle on a plan and then train to it. Now we have finished this period. We gave everyone opportunities, and now we have to gather the facts and make some decisions now.

"There are five months to the Games, which is a long time." 

Jones was impressed by the results of debutants Maeve Plouffe, 20, Luke Plapp, 19, and Tom Cornish, 20, who moved into the team via the Podium Potential Academy. 
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"The youngsters did very well, it is great to see, and that is a testament to the Academy in that we are providing opportunities to younger talent. They also provide upward pressure, and that is really good to see."

Nathan Hart, Matthew Richardson and Thomas Cornish surged to bronze in the team sprint in what was Australia’s highest finish at a World Championships in eight years. 

With Matthew Glaetzer withdrawing on the eve of the Championships due to a leg injury, Podium Potential Academy member Cornish, 20, received a call up for his maiden elite World Championships. 

The addition of Cornish meant a reshuffle of positions within the team for the three-lap event, with the youngster moving into the first-wheel position and Richardson to third. Despite the changes, the Australian trio opened their 2020 campaign with the fourth-fastest qualifying time and a combination-best time (42.996), before powering into the bronze medal final by defeating Poland in the first round (43.044). 

The trio then scorched France to take the bronze medal with another combination-best time of 42.829secs to put Australia on the podium for the first time since 2012. The group averaged 63km per hour over the three laps. ​

Tom Cornish - “I didn’t think this would be the outcome, to be honest. I just took it race by race today and it came together. I’m just really happy how I rode and the team rode.” 

Nathan Hart - “It was unfortunate with Matt Glaetzer getting injured quite recently, but we backed Tom Cornish here and he delivered exceptionally today. It was really great to string three solid rides together. I have never podiumed since my first champs in 2014, so this is definitely a highlight of my career so far.” 

Matthew Richardson - “We just took it ride by ride, being the starter, {then] going to third wheel was a challenge, but I just dug deep and took it home for the boys.”

The Netherlands took an emphatic gold medal, setting world records in both qualifying and the final.