New Zealand completed a hugely successful winning campaign at the UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands today.
They finished with a record six gold medals in their total of 10 medals earned over the four-day championships.
The success was led by 22-year-old Cambridge rider Devon Briggs with three gold medals in the men’s C3 sprint, 1km time trial and elimination race, with a world record in sprint qualifying. He was the only medallist on the final day, gaining a silver medal in the men’s 10km scratch race.
Joining him at the top of the Kiwi performances was the outstanding women’s tandem team of experienced vision-impaired rider Emma Foy with pilot Jessie Hodges who enjoyed two world championship titles in the 1km time trial and 4km pursuit.
The remaining world championship title was secured by the remarkable Waikato rider Nicole Murray in the women’s C5 Elimination – her third rainbow jersey in championship history.
The Kiwis were able to add one medal on the final day with Briggs, a noted sprinter, tested over the 10km scratch race, and with his two main rivals from Great Britain working together to cover the New Zealander.
After an early break was thwarted, it came down to two British riders and Briggs. Fin Graham jumped from the back of the group with four laps to go, and Briggs was left in the solo chase. He closed to within a few metres of the winner but had to be content with a hard-earned silver medal.
It was an impressive performance from the sprinter over the longest track event and completed his remarkable world championship campaign with three gold medals and a silver.
Fellow world champion Murray, like Briggs, found herself fighting a trio of British riders working together to cover her moves in the women’s C5 10km scratch race. Murray had to be content finishing in the bunch, leaving the championships with one gold and one silver medal. It brought her world championships haul to 14 medals over the last five years, plus her first medal nine years ago.
There was no fortune early on with Ieuan Edwards 15th in a big and aggressive field in the men’s C5 10km scratch race, with a three-strong group sprinting from the start to gain a lap on the field. Edwards, in his first world championships, fought back with a small group to get back on the same lap, eventually finishing in the peloton.
Rotorua women’s C4 rider Siobhan Terry was pipped for a medal in the C4 elimination, missing out in a close sprint to be eliminated one spot from a medal in the event where she medalled last year. Terry won a silver medal in the C4 scratch race earlier in the championships.
Coach Brendon Cameron was delighted with the performance over the squad as a marker towards the Los Angeles Paralympics in two years.
“It was a great week for the squad. It was a really good way to end a great year, with the Commonwealth Games mid-year and with the Track World Championships to end the year. It’s been a long year but quite rewarding.
“There are some milestones in there with young Ieuan Edwards coming into the squad out of the development team and notching up a couple of PBs and top-10s, plus the return of Anna Taylor back into the squad after the birth of her son Henry. Her return has been outstanding.
“Six world titles and two world records is definitely out there. We believed those results were within us. We trained very hard over the winter and they deserved the rewards.”
Devon Briggs on the podium on the final day (SWpix)