Ankudinoff on top of the world

Cyclist Ashlee Ankudinoff is the Institute’s newest world champion after a stirring performance at the 2015 UCI Track World Championships, which ended Monday morning AEDT.

Riding in the women’s team pursuit, Ankudinoff teamed with compatriots Annette Edmondson, Amy Cure and Melissa Hoskins to set the pace with a new national record in qualifying on the opening day of competition, before going faster again to defeat New Zealand.

Facing arch-rivals Great Britain in the gold medal ride, the Australian crew was relentless in the early stages and built a lead of just over one second by the halfway mark. As they rounded the final turn the victory was secured before the foursome added the finishing touches with a new world record of 4:13.638, nearly three seconds faster than the previous best.

Ankudinoff was the sole member of the Australian team that won team pursuit world championship gold in 2010, with the Australian victory breaking a four year British stranglehold on the event.

There was further success for Ankudinoff’s fellow NSWIS athlete Kaarle McCulloch, who returned to world championship competition after several battles with injury and illness over the past two years.

However McCulloch picked up where she left off by winning bronze in the women’s team sprint with Anna Meares, just over two years removed since their last ride at the 2012 Olympic Games where the duo also won bronze. The duo defeated Germany en route to bronze, edging the 2014 world champions by just .094 seconds.

NSWIS riders Scott Law and Peter Lewis also contested the championships; Law finishing seventh and 12th in the men’s points and scratch races respectively, while Lewis was eliminated from the men’s sprint in the round of 16.

The world championships were a great success for the Australian team as they finished on top of the medal tally with four gold, four silver and three bronze.