Australia claim men, women's team pursuit in Brisbane World Cup

Australia took home two gold medals in the opening day of the UCI Track World Cup in Brisbane. The host country's men and women's team pursuit squads claimed victories, with Japan winning the men's team sprint and Poland taking out the women's team sprint.

Reigning world champions Georgia Baker, Ashlee Ankudinoff, Annette Edmondson, Alexandra Manly and newcomer Maeve Plouffe led Australia to the win in the women's team pursuit over New Zealand.

"We don't get the opportunity to race in front of a home crowd, especially at a World Cup, so we wanted to go out firing and win gold," said Edmondson.

"I think we are heading in the right direction, and we have been working pretty hard behind the scenes, we wanted to do some fast times here in Brisbane, we have ticked some boxes, and will use it as inspiration to keep the momentum for the Olympics."

In the bronze medal final, Canada beat fellow North Americans, the USA, to take the final medal by a four-second margin.

In the men's team pursuit, world champions Sam Welsford, Leigh Howard, Kelland O'Brien, Alexander Porter and Luke Plapp secured Australia's second gold.

"Wearing our rainbows in front of a hometown was awesome. After winning the silver in New Zealand last week, it was so good to have a win on the boards. It just shows that we have some good talent heading into the Olympics next year," said Welsford.

In the women's team sprint, Poland's Marlena Karwacka and Urszula Łoś claimed the gold over the Russian Federation pairing of Ekaterina Rogovaya and Anastasiia Voinova in an exhilarating final which was decided by a photo finish. 

"We are very thrilled to race in front of such an enthusiastic crowd, this is the first World Cup medal that we have won, so we are very excited to take home a medal and some koalas," said Łoś.

Australia added another medal to their tally, with Stephanie Morton and Caitlin Ward winning the bronze medal round over New Zealand.

Japan put in a stunning performance to claim gold in the men's team sprint. Yoshitaku Nagasako, Yudai Nitta and Tomohiro Fukaya beat Poland by nearly three seconds, with New Zealand topping Great Britain in the bronze medal round.