July 29, 2004 – The Australian Track team has been grabbing the spotlight at senior international track races all year and yesterday was no exception at the 2004 Junior World Championships in Los Angelos, California.

Yesterday, on the first day of competition, three young Australian athletes proved they were going to be tough to beat. Michael Ford and Miles Olman of Australia posted the fastest times in the individual pursuit qualifier by over six seconds to third place with averages speeds of over 53kph. Later in the afternoon, Amanda Pratt of Australia won the Junior Women’s Points race by dominating all the early sprints and finishing with the pack. She comes from a long generation of cyclists and at the young age of sixteen has a promising career ahead.

Over the next four days there will be many more chances for other young athletes to shine. The newly built indoor Velodrome, the only one in the United States, will see a total of 194 athletes compete for top spots and the chance to gain international stardom.

Stay tuned!


Qualification – Men’s 3000m Individual Pursuit
1 Michael Ford (Australia) 3.20.364(53.902 kph)
2 Miles Olman (Australia) 3.20.429
3 Patrick Gretsch (Germany) 3.26.053
4 Ivan Kovalev (Russia) 3.26.872
5 Alexandru Pliuschin (Moldavia) 3.26.962
26 Mark Macdonald (Canada) 3.42.910


Final – Women’s Points Race
1 Amanda Spratt (Australia)19 pts – 27.30.57 (43.621 kph)
2 Choe Sun Ae (Korea)10
3 Florence Girardet (France) 8
4 Roxane Knetemann (Netherlands) 8
5 Karen Verbeek (Belgium) 8
One lap behind:15 Naomi Cooper (Canada) -20


Final – Men’s Kilometre
1 Maximilian Levy (Germany) 1.05.307 (55.124 kph)
2 Kang Dong Jin (Korea) 1.05.751 (54.752 kph)
3 David Cabrol (France) 1.06.150 (54.422 kph)
4 Stoyan Vasev (Russia) 1.06.423 (54.198 kph)
5 Benjamin Wittmann (Germany) 1.06.786 (53.904 kph)
21 Mark Macdonald (Canada) 1.10.553 (51.025 kph)
22 Zach Grant (Canada) 1.11.170 (50.583k kph)


Final – Men’s Scratch Race
1 Geraint Thomas (Great Britain) 11.40.125 (51.419 kph)
2 Luis Mansilla (Chile)
3 Alexandru Pliuschin (Moldavia)
4 Adam Coker (New Zealand)
5 Kyle Swain (South Africa)
One lap behind:15 Charly Vives (Canada)