Cyclists Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer have followed up team sprint gold last week with individual medals to highlight the weekend in Olympic sports.
Track Cycling
The strength of Australia’s men’s track cycling was on full display at the 2022 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, with Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer taking the silver and bronze respectively in the individual sprint.
The two Aussies had to go head-to-head in the semi-finals, with Richardson coming from behind in the final moments in what was very close to being a photo finish.
Despite a red-hot rack in the final from Richardson, he couldn’t stop Harrie Lavreysen (NED) from winning the men’s sprint world title for the fourth-consecutive time.
“The fight against Lavreysen was one I can still be proud of,” Richardson said.
“Harrie is a world-class bike rider and was definitely going be hard to beat, but I feel like the gap is definitely closing.
“(I) definitely have some work to be done but I think I think this is a good step forward in the lead-up to the next Olympics.”
Matthew Glaetzer was determined not to miss out on a second medal chance, who took on Mateusz Rudyk from Poland in the bronze match-up and powered well clear on the final straight for the medal.
Richardson and Glaetzer were also instrumental in the Aussie men’s sprint team claiming gold on Thursday to become world champs for the first time since 2012.
Sailing
Breiana Whitehead has capped off a magnificent week at the Formula Kite World Championships, finishing seventh after a rollercoaster semi-final series.
The final day started with consistent sea breeze of 13-17 knots, with the waves and the wind building as the day evolved. It was high stakes racing with athletes regularly clocking speeds over 30 knots.
Riders in the semi-finals were ranked one to four in either group A or B, based on their qualifying series position, with the highest ranked rider needing one win to move through to the final, the second ranked rider needing two, with third and fourth needing three.
Breiana found herself in semi-final group B, where her skills would be tested by Katie Dabson (GBR) who just needed the one win and Leonie Meyer (GER) and Gal Zukerman (ISR) who were chasing three.
“Today was quite stressful, but it was awesome to race in the medal series and it was a great opportunity to get better,” Breiana said.
“My heart was pumping seeing how easy it was to make a mistake, but I needed to stay focused as there was a lot of pressure.
“I really enjoyed some tricky close battles today, and knowing that you are top ten in the world, that feels pretty special.”
The Formula Kite kitesurfing class is set for an Olympic debut at Paris 2024.
While over in Houston, USA Mara Stransky and the Australian Sailing Team have been competing in the final day of the ILCA 6 World Championships.
Mara was the best-placed Australian, finishing 13th in the women’s gold fleet. It comes a year after she finished 14th on her Olympic debut in the ICLA 6 (women’s laser radial) at Tokyo 2020.
Badminton
Tokyo 2020 Olympians Gronya Somerville and Wendy Chen led Australia’s efforts at the 2022 Bendigo International over the weekend, advancing to the quarter-finals in the women’s doubles.
The pair, who finished fourth at the Commonwealth Games earlier in the year, took out Su Yu Chen and Hsiao An Lu (TPE) 21-8 21-19 to lock in their quarter-final berth. A clash with the fourth seeded pair Ching Hui Chang and Ching Tun Yang (TPE) followed, in which the Aussies narrowly went down 22-20 21-18.
