World Track Championships - CM

Melbourne, Australia, May 26-30, 2004

Event program and results

Tales from the track

News and gossip from day 2 of the Melbourne World Track Championships

By Gerard Knapp

Ulmer breaks world record

Sarah Ulmer
Photo ©: Mark Gunter

In the final qualifying heat of the women's 3km individual pursuit, New Zealand's Sara Ulmer has broken the world record with a time of 3.30.604, two-tenths of a second inside the record that was set by Holland's Leontien Zijlaard - Van Moorsel in a semi-final at the Sydney Olympics.

Immediately after her heat - where she was chasing down Zijlaard - Van Moorsel - Ulmer said, "I am stoked, absolutely stoked.

"I am just elated. My boyfriend was giving me the call so I knew." Despite the time, she was not thinking of a gold medal just yet: "I just want to catch my breath and warm down. I don't want to get carried away just yet. But Yeah, I am stoked".

Katie Mactier, who like many other members of the Australian team has been suffering from some flu, finished with the third-fastest time. "I am relieved it's over. It would take more than a cough and cold to keep me away. It's fabulous preparation for Athens.

"Sarah is a class act. I am thrilled for her. It's not a surprise that she broke the world record."

Zijlaard - Van Moorsel told Cyclingnews after the heat: "yeah, a record that was standing for four years is likely to be broken, it's normal that some should break it now.

"She (Ulmer) is in really good shape right now and it is good for her to do it." In an earlier interview on Cyclingnews, Zijlaard - Van Moorsel expected that Ulmer would break her record in Melbourne and that she wanted take it back at the Athens Olympic Games. "Yes! When the track is hot enough I think it will be possible, and when I am at the right condition.

The Dutch rider thought her own time of 3.35.349 was "OK. I am happy with this time - for the moment."

Related story: 2003 Sarah Ulmer interview

More Day 2 News from the Melbourne World Track Championships

By Karen Forman in Melbourne

• Wolff returns to Germany after training accident - German sprinter Rene Wolff will make an unscheduled trip back to Germany this morning to get urgent treatment for a knee injury sustained in a freak accident at Melbourne's Vodafone Arena this morning.
• Secret women's business challenges Van Moorsel - It's not the kind of thing that people (especially males) talk out loud about - but female athletes of all disciplines certainly know that having - or not having - a menstrual period when it's time for an important event can make or break you.
• Australia misses out on hoped-for second kilo berth - Australia's hopes to forge a second berth for the men's kilo at the Athens Olympics - and Ben Kersten's Olympic dream - were shattered in Melbourne tonight when neither Kersten nor Shane Kelly finished in the top four of the world championship event.
• Alzamora wants to repeat Aussie madison gold - Spaniard Miquel Alzamora has travelled a long way to Australia hoping to achieve his lifelong dream of Olympics qualification. But that's not the only reason he came to the World Track Championships in Melbourne this week.
• Mendez wants to take gold for Mexico - At 30 she is one of the more senior female cyclists at Melbourne's Vodafone Arena for the 2004 World Track Championships, but Mexican Belem Guerrero Mendez isn't letting extra years give her extra stress as she prepares for the women's points race on Saturday.