The opening night of the Track World Championships in Copenhagen provided plenty of thrills and spills, and gave some tantalising glimpses as to future form at this midway point between the Beijing and London Olympics.
Cameron Meyer (AUS) was imperious in the 160 lap Men’s Points Race, gaining two laps and finishing on a mahoosive 70 points, 37 points ahead of Peter Schep (NED) in second place. This is the second year running he’s been points world champion. Chris Newton of Great Britain worked hard to put himself in contention for the bronze, but was denied on the final lap, sprinting too early and running out of gas before the finish line and being overtaken by Perez of Argentina. Had he taken more than 1pt on the final sprint, he would have leapfrogged Milan Kadlec, who hung on with 27 points for third place.
In the Women’s 500m Time Trial, Anna Meares (AUS) retains her world title, coming in just a shade under the world record, set by Lithuania’s Simona Krupeckaite who here finished in silver medal position. Meanwhile, in the Women’s 3000m individual pursuit Sarah Hammer of the USA beat Wendy Houvenhagel to gold.
Great Britain and China contested the Men’s Team Sprint bronze medal which, after technical problems, was taken by the British trio of Jason Kenny, Ross Edgar and Chris Hoy. Germany won the gold medal, disappointing France who were hoping to take the top accolade for the eleventh time.
