Hammer wins fifth individual pursuit world title
American is one win behind compatriot Rebecca Twigg and Russian Tamara Garkuchina for the IP record
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MINSK, Belarus (AFP) — American Sarah Hammer won the individual pursuit world title Wednesday at the UCI Elite Track World Championships.
Hammer beat Australian Amy Cure to take her fifth world championship in the discipline, having won rainbow stripes in 2006, 2007, 2010, and 2011. Australian Annette Edmondson won the bronze medal over Canadian Laura Brown.
The win drew Hammer within one world title of the women’s record of six for the pursuit, held by American Rebecca Twigg (between 1982 and 1995) and Russian Tamara Garkuchina (between 1967 and 1974). She is the only rider representing the U.S. in Minsk.
Also on Wednesday, French rider Francois Pervis ended years of frustration on Wednesday when he was crowned kilometer world champion at the UCI Elite Track World Championships.
The 28-year-old, who had previously won four bronzes and a silver medal in the event, won in a time of 1:00.221 to edge out New Zealand’s Simon Van Velthooven, with Joachim Eilers of Germany taking the bronze.
Germany’s defending champion Stefan Nimke did not contest the event, having retired from international competition.
Australia avenged two successive men’s team pursuit title losses to Great Britain on Wednesday as Glenn O’Shea and crew regained their
world track crown on the first day of the worlds. The Australians came second to the British at last year’s world championships in Melbourne and then at the London Olympics.
However, the young quartet of O’Shea (23 years old), Alexander Edmondson (19), Michael Hepburn (21), and Alexander Morgan (18) got the better of their old rivals in Minsk to win in a time of 3:56.751 over 4km.
Denmark took the bronze medal, beating Spain in their match-up.
In the women’s team sprint, Germany’s Olympic champions, Miriam Welte and Kristina Vogel, showed their class in overcoming a disrupted preparation to retain their title.
The German duo — who had been pessimistic about their chances as they had been taking their exams to become policewomen — beat the Chinese pairing of Gong Jinjie and Guo Shuang in the final. Great Britain took the bronze as Rebecca James and Victoria Williamson beat Australia’s Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton in their match-up.