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2005 Australian Senior Track Championships - CNAdelaide, South Australia, February 7-12, 2005Day 1 - February 7: Men 1 lap TT; U19 men 1000m; U19 women 500m; Women 500m; AWD 1000mOlympic star Anna Meares too hot for rivals in AdelaideThe women's 500m time trial at the 2005 Australian Track Cycling Championships was a case of Anna Meares first and daylight second but that was no surprise. After all with a pedigree that includes Olympic gold, World Championship gold and the current World Record, the 21 year-old Queenslander was the odds on favourite to defend her Australian title in Adelaide and she did it in a time of 34.897sec. Her sister, Kerrie, 22, continuing her successful comeback from the back injury that ruled her out of Athens selection in 2004, was more than a second slower in 35.749 to claim the silver medal with West Australian Kristine Bayley third in 36.268. The Meares sisters thrive on competing against each other but are also each other's greatest supporters. Anna took time out from her preparation for the race to snap a couple of photos of Kerrie on the start line for their website with Kerrie doing the same minutes later for Anna. "It's good for me to have Kerrie there and it's good for Kerrie to have me there as well - a bit of extra support never goes astray," said Anna. "I'm very happy with that time because I'm not focussing on the time trial this year so much. "I want to improve my sprint and keirin game at the World Championships this year," said Anna who tonight tried out a bigger gear for the time trial. Kerrie, meantime improved by two tenths of a second on the time she rode to claim the Oceania crown in December. "I just had a laugh - I rode up next to her (Anna) and said 'you rode a second faster than me'," said Kerrie. "That's the best I could have done, I've got a lot of improvement to make, my personal best is 34.9 and I'm concentrating on myself and (using) Anna to chase at the moment. "What better than to have a world and Olympic champion as a training partner and sister - I can't complain." Kersten keeps men's 1 lap in NSWIn the men's one lap time trial defending champion Sean Eadie did not start due to a niggling back injury but 2004 silver medallist, Ben Kersten, stepped up to keep the title in New South Wales hands. He completed the 250m distance in 18.426sec, outside the personal best of just under 18sec that he rode last year, but two tenths of a second clear of Victorian Jason Niblett (18.671) with another Victorian, Joel Leonard third in 18.859. "It means it's time to stop strength training and go to speed," said Kersten. "Unfortunately the times weren't that quick, but I really needed to come here tonight and do that to get ready for tomorrow (men's kilometre time trial). "I've just been long, slow training and I really need something like tonight to kick start me into gear," said Kersten who at the Manchester World Cup in January cracked the 62 second mark for the first time in the one kilometre event. "I'm a bit heavy, but the goal is the worlds (March)." Kersten will race in six more events this week but his main goal is the March World Championships in Los Angeles and the one kilometre time trial. Wright adds to Queensland tally in U19 500m; Rathbone takes U19 men's 1000mIn the under 19 events Hayley Wright added another victory for Queensland winning the 500m time trial in 37.129, a time which would have placed her fifth in the elite event. Silver went to Bianca Rogers of South Australia in 37.317 and Canberra's Jennifer Loutit claimed bronze in 37.569. The men's under 19 kilometre time trial was a hard fought affair with New South Wales rider Jackson-Leigh Rathbone clinching gold in 1:06.057 by a margin of five hundredths of a second over West Australian Scott Sunderland, 1:06.112. Queensland's Jeremy Hogg was third in 1:06.709. Records fall in AWD eventsEarlier in the day the 2005 Australian Track Cycling Championships got off to a flying start this afternoon as the multi-disability athletes set the benchmark for the event. Triple Athens Paralympic gold medallist, Christopher Scott, (QLD), 36, took more than a second off the world record for the 1km time trial for CP Div4 men covering the distance in 1:10.058 to eclipse the previous record set by Czech rider Jiri Bouska at the Athens Paralympics of 1:11.353. South Australian Angela Fleming then cracked the world mark for the LC2 women's 500m time trial riding 44.626. Her time smashed the mark of 46.539 set by Yuan Li Yuan (CHN) in Prague in 2003. Jane Armstrong of Western Australia knocked four seconds of the 500m time trial mark in the LC3 division riding 46.890 to better the mark of 50.793 set in 2003 by American Alison Jones. Glen Jarvis of Victoria set a national mark of 1:21.842 seconds in the LC3 1000m and WA's Claire McLean rode 43.124 seconds for an Australian record in the LC1 500m. PhotographyFor a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Rachel Burke/www.maximumattack.biz
ResultsSession 2
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