Australia wins 72 titles at 2023 Oceania Track Cycling Championships
NATAustralian cyclists have won a staggering 72 titles over five days of racing at the 2023 Oceania Track Cycling Championships.
The 2023 edition of the trans-Tasman track rivalry ends a busy fortnight of racing on the boards of Anna Meares Velodrome for Australia’s best elite, para-cycling and under-19 trackies, who entered the Oceania event off the back of the 2023 TrackNats.
Australian stars Chloe Moran, Matthew Richardson and Kristina Clonan led the way against New Zealand, with Moran the most prolific courtesy of four championships.
The South Australian’s stellar form from TrackNats continued at Oceania’s, winning the scratch race, omnium, and defending her points race title.
Moran was also victorious in the elite women’s team pursuit, alongside Sophie Edwards, Claudia Marcks and Alli Anderson.
Richardson had never won an Oceania championship before 2023 but made sure that statistic was buried on day one in the team sprint alongside Leigh Hoffman and Nathan Hart.
The Western Australian was dominant over the next two days, winning the sprint and keirin titles to complete a flawless block of racing in Brisbane.
Clonan and Kiwi star Ellesse Andrews reignited their friendly rivalry from the get-go courtesy of a blazing elite women’s team sprint final on day one.
Molly McGill had the Australians moving with force out of the gate, allowing Clonan and Alessia McCaig to bring the sprint train home to gold in a national record time of 47.603.
Andrews had the measure of Clonan in the sprint the following day, however, the Queenslander bounced back to claim the keirin title before continuing her 500m time trial supremacy.
Australia’s para-cyclists delivered big for another year at the Oceania level, amassing 43 titles.
C5 500m time trial specialist Erin Rowell had five titles to her name at the end of competition, followed closely by Luke Taylor’s four championships in men’s C4.
Paralympic gold medallist Darren Hicks (men’s C2), Tahlia Clayton-Goodie (women’s C1), Emma Mickle (women’s C3), and tandem Jessica Gallagher and Caitlin Ward (pilot) all picked up three Oceania titles.
Australia’s under-19 contingent was also in fine form over the five days of racing, winning 14 titles.
New South Wales’ Keira Will sat on the top of the pile with three championships across the Madison, team pursuit and omnium.
Teenage powerhouse Felicity Wilson-Haffenden was also part of the winning JW19 team pursuit squad alongside Will, Lauren Bates, Nicole Duncan and Sally Carter.
Wilson-Haffenden, Will, Bates and Duncan rode the house down in the gold medal final, catching their Kiwi counterparts in 1:46.085 and riding on to a new national record time of 4:28.874.
That blazing time made it two national records for Tasmanian Wilson-Haffenden at Oceania’s after breaking her own eight-day-old JW19 individual pursuit Australian record with a time of 2:19.952.
Another stand-out performance was James Moriarty’s special win in the elite men’s individual pursuit.
The 21-year-old Brisbane product became the second Australian in history to go sub-four minutes and 10 seconds in the 4000m individual pursuit, stopping the clock at 4:09.955 to turn the tables on New Zealand’s Tom Sexton in the gold medal final.
Moriarty joins national record holder and Australian Cycling Team teammate Conor Leahy in the exclusive club.
Australian winners at 2023 Oceania Track Cycling Championships:
- JW19 IP – Felicity Wilson-Haffenden (National record – 2:19.952)
- JM19 IP – Noah Blannin
- Elite Men TS – Matthew Richardson, Leigh Hoffman, Nathan Hart
- Elite Women TP – Claudia Marcks, Sophie Edwards, Alli Anderson, Chloe Moran
- Elite Men TP – Oli Bleddyn, Josh Duffy, Conor Leahy, Blake Agnoletto
- JM19 Men Sprint – Noah Mason
- Para Team Sprint – Erin Rowell, Gordon Allan, Michael Shippley
- Para TS Tandem – Jessica Gallagher/Caitlin Ward (pilot), Beau Wootton/Byron Davies (pilot)
- Elite Women TS - Molly McGill, Alessia McCaig, Kristina Clonan (National record – 47.603)
- Elite Women Scratch – Chloe Moran
- Elite Men Scratch – Josh Duffy
- JW19 Elimination – Belinda Bailey
- Para IP Women C1 - Tahlia Clayton-Goodie
- Para IP Women C2 - Annaliese Hodge
- Para IP Women C3 – Paige Greco
- Para IP Women C4 – Alana Forster
- Para IP Women C5 – Erin Rowell
- Para IP Men C2 – Darren Hicks
- Para IP Men C3 – David Nicholas
- Para IP Men C4 – Luke Taylor
- Para Tandem Pursuit Women – Candice Kennedy/Kelly Fettes (pilot)
- Para Tandem Pursuit Men – Steven Kemp/Peter Spencer (pilot)
- Elite Men Sprint – Matthew Richardson
- JW19 Scratch – Lilyth Jones
- Elite Men IP – James Moriarty
- JM19 TP – Noah Blannin, Oscar Gallagher, Alex Eaves, Hayden van der Ploeg, Ben Anderson
- JM19 TS – Noah Mason, Jayden Stanton-Keir, Xavier Bland
- Para TT Women C1 – Kaitlyn Schurmann
- Para TT Women C2 – Amanda Reid
- Para TT Women C3 – Emma Mickle
- Para TT Women C4 – Sharon Boyd
- Para TT Women C5 – Erin Rowell
- Para TT WB – Jessica Gallagher/Caitlin Ward (pilot)
- Para TT MB – Beau Wootton/Byron Davies (pilot)
- Para TT Men C2 – Gordon Allan
- Para TT Men C3 – David Nicholas
- Para TT Men C4 – Luke Taylor
- Para TT Men C5 – Michael Shippley
- JW19 TT – Liliya Tatarinoff
- JW19 Madison – Nicole Duncan/Keira Will
- Elite Women Keirin – Kristina Clonan
- Elite Men Keirin – Matthew Richardson
- Elite Women Omnium – Chloe Moran
- Elite Men Omnium – John Carter
- Para Tandem Women Sprint – Jessica Gallagher/Caitlin Ward (pilot)
- Para Tandem Men Sprint – Kane Perris/Luke Zaccaria (pilot)
- Para Scratch Women C1 – Tahlia Clayton-Goodie
- Para Scratch Women C2 – Amanda Reid
- Para Scratch Women C3 – Emma Mickle
- Para Scratch Women C4 – Meg Lemon
- Para Scratch Women C5 – Erin Rowell
- Para Scratch Men C2 – Darren Hicks
- Para Scratch Men C3 – Kyle Willis
- Para Scratch Men C4 – Luke Taylor
- Para Scratch Men C5 – Korey Boddington
- Para Omnium Women C1 – Tahlia Clayton-Goodie
- Para Omnium Women C2 – Annaliese Hodge
- Para Omnium Women C3 – Emma Mickle
- Para Omnium Women C4 – Meg Lemon
- Para Omnium Women C5 – Erin Rowell
- Para Omnium Men C2 – Darren Hicks
- Para Omnium Men C3 – Gregory Walters
- Para Omnium Men C4 – Luke Taylor
- Para Omnium Men C5 – Korey Boddington
- JW19 TP – Lauren Bates, Felicity Wilson-Haffenden, Keira Will, Nicole Duncan (National record – 4:28.874) and Sally Carter (Q)
- Elite Women TT – Kristina Clonan
- JW19 Points Race – Lauren Bates
- JW19 Keirin – Liliya Tatarinoff
- JM19 Keirin – Jayden Stanton-Keir
- Elite Men TT – Matthew Glaetzer
- JW19 Omnium – Keira Will
- Elite Women Points Race – Chloe Moran
Feature picture: Scott Slade
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