World Titles for WAIS Pair
Western Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Sam Welsford and Tian Beckett have won gold medals on the first day of competition at the UCI Junior Track World Cycling Championships in Glasgow.
Welsford was first up, competing in the men’s team pursuit alongside Jack Edwards (NSW), Joshua Harrison (SA) and Callum Scotson (SA). The quartet posted the fastest time (4:09.364mins) in qualifying to progress to the evening’s gold medal race where they faced trans Tasman rivals New Zealand.
Edwards led a blistering pace for Australia which saw the team establish a one second lead after the first lap. Despite running out of laps in their efforts to catch their opponents, Australia were clear winners in a time of 4mins 6.159secs, six seconds ahead of New Zealand.
South Australian Joshua Harrison spoke on behalf of the team, claiming it was an unbelievable moment for the boys.”I don’t really know what to feel at the moment, this is amazing. I just don’t know how to describe it,” he said.
“Sitting there for two hours in qualifying watching all the other teams was a little nerve wracking, but in the end it made it easier for us once they had gone, we knew exactly what time we needed to post.
“In the final, once we could see them, we knew we had it. We tried to hunt them down but couldn’t quite get there, but held it to the end for the win.”
Continuing a long standing tradition for male members of the Australian Junior Track team, all the boys on the current Australian team, was sporting the trademark bleached blonde locks, something that Harrison believes galvanised their effort.
“It’s a great bonding exercise, it really brings the boys together and that’s what is great about this team. We are all really good mates and really supportive of each other,” Harrison said.
Tian Beckett became the second WA athlete of the night to claim gold, when she combined with Queensland’s Tenille Felappi to win a Junior World Championship in an Australian Record time in the women’s team sprint.
Beckett bolted from the gates to give the Australians a considerable lead over their Russian opponents after the first of two laps, with Felappi powering home over the final 250m to record a time of 35.344secs, eclipsing the six-month old Australian record set by Beckett and Courtney Field of 35.364secs.
“It hasn’t hit home yet, it is like having a birthday but you don’t feel older. It just hasn’t sunk in,” said Felappi.
“We came here with high expectations, didn’t come in knowing we’d win of course, but we were confident we had potential.
“But today we went above and beyond what we thought with that time, and to be able to stand on the podium and wear the rainbow jersey while your anthem is playing was incredible,” Felappi added.
Completing a fine night for the Australian team in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, a third gold medal was won by the Australian men’s team sprint for an historic hattrick of titles.
The South Australian trio of Patrick Constable, Alex Radzikiewicz and Jai Angsuthasawit were unstoppable on their way to claiming the third green and gold win of the session.
Buoyed by Australia’s two earlier gold medals, the team covered the three laps in 45.639secs to narrowly edge Russia (45.714 secs) for the win.
The action continues on day two, with WAIS athletes again set to feature prominently. Elisa Wundersitz and Kelsey Robson will form part of the Australian women’s team pursuit looking to defend Australia’s rainbow jersey, before Beckett returns to the Velodrome for the women’s time trial. Sam Welsford will take to the start line for the men’s scratch race.
WAIS Cycling Coach Clay Worthington is a member of the Australian coaching staff in Glasgow, assisting the track sprint athletes.