'This has been our dream for the past year and a half': Australia wins junior men's team sprint world championship
NATAustralia has made its return to the UCI Junior Track World Championships for the first time in three years with a bang on Day 1 in Tel Aviv, winning gold and silver in the men’s and women’s team sprint respectively.
The trio of Ryan Elliott, Maxwell Liebeknecht and Dylan Stanton grabbed the ascendancy early in the junior men’s sprint battle after qualifying first, and never looked back on their way to the world championship.
Faced with the tough task of overcoming Germany in the gold medal final, the young Australians pulled out their best performance of the day to defeat the Germans by 0.566 seconds in a new junior national record time of 44.538 seconds.
🌈 x 🥇x 🇦🇺
— AusCyclingTeam (@AusCyclingTeam) August 23, 2022
We have rainbows on Day 1 of #TelAviv2022!
A huge day in Israel from our junior team sprint boys - deservedly the 2022 world champions.@AusCyclingAus · #AusCyclingTeam pic.twitter.com/mxIZbWVby8
Current junior national sprint champion Ryan Elliott said the moment felt unreal.
“We still can’t believe that we actually did it,” Elliott said.
“This has been our dream for the past year and a half.
“Everything went to plan, and we really owe it to Jon Andrews and the AusCycling staff who really helped us to stay calm and execute the race plan.”
The 18-year-old from Balmoral Cycling Club in Brisbane added nerves were high before the gold medal final, however, so was their confidence.
“... because we were first in every round leading up to it, it really helped us prepare for the final.
“I think this moment we had tonight is in the back of everyone’s mind leading into the competition, being able to hear the national anthem while standing on the top step of the podium.
“The opportunity to achieve those dreams is so special.”
The 2022 junior men’s team sprint world championship breaks a nine-year drought for Australia in the event, with the last rainbow stripes won in 2013.
The Australian women’s team sprint trio of Emma Stevens, Tyler Puzicha and Sophie Marr claimed silver to make it a near-perfect night for the sprint squad in Israel.
Stevens, Puzicha and Marr, who is predominately an endurance rider, also faced Germany in their gold medal final, falling short of the world championship by 1.045 seconds in a time of 50.933 seconds.
That time was their second best of the day behind the Round 1 performance of 50.856 seconds, which is a new junior national record.
Dubbo Cycle Club junior Puzicha said to be at junior worlds was completely unreal.
"But when we won silver it was amazing - the atmosphere was awesome and all the hard work that we had done individually came together," Puzicha said.
"I have to say I have never felt a heartbeat in my throat until that point before the gold medal final.
"The nerves weren’t so bad but the adrenaline kicked in and I was fired up for the race and ready to go.
"It’s also an honour to be wearing the green and gold.
"When I was younger I wouldn’t have thought that I would get this far and to be here is an amazing experience and opportunity that all 12 of us have been given.
"We are all proud Aussies showing the rest of the world what we have to give!"
🥈 for our junior women's team sprint squad at #TelAviv2022! 🔥@AusCyclingAus · #AusCyclingTeam pic.twitter.com/hVf7IkP6kA
— AusCyclingTeam (@AusCyclingTeam) August 23, 2022
In other results, the junior men’s team pursuit squad missed out on fighting for medals on Day 2 in Tel Aviv after recording the fifth fastest time in Round 1 – a 4:07.375.
17-year-old Summer Nordmeyer finished 21st in the women’s junior scratch race.
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Pictures: Gilad Kavalerchik
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