Bobridge wins Individual Pursuit

Australia completed a clean sweep on the first day of the track racing at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, taking all three gold medals on offer in the men's 4,000m individual pursuit, the women's 500m time trial and the men's 1,000m time trial - with all three events producing world class performances and times that suggest the new Delhi track is fast.

Jack Bobridge lived up to the tag of favourite in the individual pursuit and qualified fastest with a stunning 4:14.845 ride - the first of three Commonwealth Games records set on day one, this one slicing a second-and-a-half from Brad McGee's 2002 mark.

That set up a final featuring two promising young cyclists, with 22-year-old Jesse Sergent of New Zealand facing Bobridge in the back straight.

And what followed was as thrilling as some of the best pursuit finals, with the 21-year-old Bobridge pushed all the way by Sergent. On the line Bobridge just got it, by less than half a second, stopping the clock at 4.17.495 to Sergent's 4.17.893.

"I'm only 21 but I've done three world titles and I have done a lot of world-class times, and I feel a little bit of pressure to perform," said Bobridge. "To come out here and perform and actually live up to it gives us real motivation for the team pursuit.

"To get the record off McGee was fantastic," added Bobridge. "McGee showed his class every year he rode in the pursuit, and any record you break is fantastic."

Another youngster, 19-year-old Michael Hepburn (Australia), took the bronze medal, catching Sam Bewley (New Zealand) in the ride-off.

Anna Meares won the women's 500 metre time trial with a time of 33.758 - a Commonwealth Games record, beating her own mark from 2006. She beat fellow Australian Kaarle Mcculloch, who set a time of 34.780, and Becky James of Wales, who won her first senior medal at a major championships with a time of 35.236.

"I have improved a lot since Melbourne four years ago," said Meares. "It's a great feeling to be able to walk away with a Commonwealth Games gold medal. It's a result of a lot of hard work, not only from myself, but a team of people really that help gut us on the track."

Scott Sunderland gave Australia its third gold in the men's kilometre time trial, with a time of 1:01.411 - another Commonwealth Games record. Malaysia's Mohd Rizal Tisin took the silver and Dawkins Edward James of New Zealand took the bronze with a time of 1:02.777.

Dean Sean Edwards (South Africa) and Mark Peter Christian (Isle of Man) won their respective qualifying heats for the men's points race.

The top 12 finishers of each qualifying heat will compete for the gold medal in the points race final on Wednesday.

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Men's 4,000m Individual Pursuit Qualifying
1Jack Bobridge (Australia)0:04:14.845
2Jesse Sergent (New Zealand)0:04:16.751
3Michael Hepburn (Australia)0:04:19.598
4Sam Bewley (New Zealand)0:04:19.612
5Peter David Latham (New Zealand)0:04:25.534
6Martyn Irvine (Northern Ireland)0:04:28.803
7Sam Harrison (Wales)0:04:33.341
8George Atkins (England)0:04:34.490
9Mark Peter Christian (Isle of Man)0:04:35.052
10Erick Rowsell (England)0:04:39.710
11Mohammad Akmal Amrun (Malaysia)0:04:41.754
12Sombir (India)0:04:54.966
13Dayala Ram Saran (India)0:05:01.972
14Vinod Malik (India)0:05:02.085
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Men's 4,000m Individual Pursuit - Gold Medal Round
1Jack Bobridge (Australia)0:04:17.495
2Jesse Sergent (New Zealand)0:04:17.893
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Men's 4,000m Individual Pursuit - Bronze Medal Round
3Michael Hepburn (Australia)Row 0 - Cell 2
4Sam Bewley (New Zealand)Caught
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Women's 500m Time Trial
1Anna Meares (Australia)0:00:33.758
2Kaarle Mcculloch (Australia)0:00:34.780
3Becky James (Wales)0:00:35.236
4Monique Sullivan (Canada)0:00:36.238
5Jenny Davis (Scotland)0:00:36.416
6Alison Shanks (New Zealand)0:00:36.565
7Anna Blyth (England)0:00:36.807
8Charline Joiner (Scotland)0:00:37.539
9Wendy Houvenaghel (Northern Ireland)0:00:38.289
10Mahitha Mohan (India)0:00:38.788
11Ch. Rameshwori Devi (India)0:00:38.913
12Heather Wilson (Northern Ireland)0:00:40.189
13Rejani Vijaya Kumari (India)0:00:40.439
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Men's 1,000m Time Trial
1Scott Sunderland (Australia)0:01:01.411
2Mohd Rizal Tisin (Malaysia)0:01:02.768
3Edward James Dawkins (New Zealand)0:01:02.777
4Myron Simpson (New Zealand)0:01:03.449
5Travis Smith (Canada)0:01:03.656
6Bernard Pierre Esterhuizen (South Africa)0:01:04.421
7Marc Ryan (New Zealand)0:01:04.521
8Callum Skinner (Scotland)0:01:05.095
9Singh O. Bikram(India)0:01:07.911
10Philip Lavery (Northern Ireland)0:01:08.985
11Rakesh Kumar (India)0:01:09.229
12Prince Hylem (India)0:01:09.977
13Adam Armstrong (Northern Ireland)0:01:11.659
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Men's Points Race - Qualifying Heat 1
1Dean Sean Edwards (South Africa)11pts
2Cameron Meyer (Australia)10Row 1 - Cell 3
3Shane William Archbold (New Zealand)7Row 2 - Cell 3
4Jon Mould (Wales)7Row 3 - Cell 3
5Christopher Whorrall (Isle of Man)6Row 4 - Cell 3
6Philip Lavery (Northern Ireland)5Row 5 - Cell 3
7Luke Rowe (Wales)4Row 6 - Cell 3
8Darren David Matthews (Barbados)3Row 7 - Cell 3
9James McCallum (Scotland)3Row 8 - Cell 3
10David Lines (Scotland)2Row 9 - Cell 3
11Erick Rowsell (England)1Row 10 - Cell 3
12Christoffel Van Heerden (South Africa)Row 11 - Cell 2 Row 11 - Cell 3
13Amir Mustafa Rusli (Malaysia)-17Row 12 - Cell 3
14Rajender Bishnoi (India)-17Row 13 - Cell 3
15Adam Armstrong (Northern Ireland)-19Row 14 - Cell 3
DNFOneil Samuels (Jamaica)Row 15 - Cell 2 Row 15 - Cell 3
DNFEmile Magellan Abraham (Trinidad and Tobago)Row 16 - Cell 2 Row 16 - Cell 3
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Men's Points Race - Qualifying Heat 2
1Mark Peter Christian (Isle of Man)27pts
2Zach Bell (Canada)27Row 1 - Cell 3
3Peter David Latham (New Zealand)25Row 2 - Cell 3
4Muhamad Adiq Othman (Malaysia)24Row 3 - Cell 3
5Sam Harrison (Wales)8Row 4 - Cell 3
6Martyn Irvine (Northern Ireland)8Row 5 - Cell 3
7Simon Yates (England)6Row 6 - Cell 3
8Aaron Gate (New Zealand)6Row 7 - Cell 3
9George Atkins (England)5Row 8 - Cell 3
10Luke Durbridge (Australia)5Row 9 - Cell 3
11Mohd Harrif Salleh (Malaysia)4Row 10 - Cell 3
12Evan Oliphant (Scotland)1Row 11 - Cell 3
13Atul Kumar (India)Row 12 - Cell 2 Row 12 - Cell 3
DNFGeron Oliver Williams (Guyana)Row 13 - Cell 2 Row 13 - Cell 3
DNFAmandeep Singh (India)Row 14 - Cell 2 Row 14 - Cell 3
DNFMarloe Rodman (Jamaica)Row 15 - Cell 2 Row 15 - Cell 3
DNFJay Robert Thomson (South Africa)Row 16 - Cell 2 Row 16 - Cell 3

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Richard Moore is a freelance journalist and author. His first book, In Search of Robert Millar (HarperSport), won Best Biography at the 2008 British Sports Book Awards. His second book, Heroes, Villains & Velodromes (HarperSport), was long-listed for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

He writes on sport, specialising in cycling, and is a regular contributor to Cyclingnews, the Guardian, skyports.com, the Scotsman and Procycling magazine.

He is also a former racing cyclist who represented Scotland at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and Great Britain at the 1998 Tour de Langkawi

His next book, Slaying the Badger: LeMond, Hinault and the Greatest Ever Tour de France, will be published by Yellow Jersey in May 2011.

Another book, Sky’s the Limit: British Cycling’s Quest to Conquer the Tour de France, will also be published by HarperSport in June 2011.

 


 

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