Athens Olympic sprint bronze medallist, Anna Meares, 21, claimed her fourth straight Australian sprint crown at the expense of her sister Kerrie, 22, on day four of racing at the Australian Track Cycling Championships at Adelaide's Super-Drome.

Anna, who was the fastest qualifier in the event, didn't have it all her own way though with Kerrie claiming first blood in the opening heat of the best of three rides to decide the gold medal.

"She had me worried from the first round - I got off from the first round a bit disappointed and honestly I was thinking in the headlines 'Kerrie comes back, beats little sister'," said Anna.

"That's what I was thinking, 'Kerrie's comeback'!" laughed her sister.

But Anna came back strongly to claim the second heat. The deciding match up was a race of cat and mouse with Anna drawing the lead out position and trying in vain to force Kerrie to the front through a series of standstill maneuvres. Kerrie won that mind game but when she launched her sprint, diving down the track to claim the sprinters' lane, Anna reacted quickly and was able to reel her in for the victory.

"When she went under me in that third round the first thing I thought was 'ah, not again, she caught me by surprise' and there was only one thing left to do and that was to take height and try to run at her wheel as hard
as I could," said Anna. "Luckily for me, I ended up running pretty well."

Kerrie was quick to congratulate her younger sibling after they crossed the line.

"Even if we lose against each other, the frown only lasts maybe 25m and you give each other a bit of a pat on the back."

"It really was a very tough fight, I was gasping for air after every single round," said Anna."When she came around in that first one, it really woke me up - I was just like 'whoa, she's really got some steam here tonight."

The pair now hope to meet again in the sprint final of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next month.

"Hopefully a different result (there) - for my sake," said Kerrie. "We go out there and race and want to beat each other, whether it takes knocking each other off again - but it's all good fun and good practice for the Games."

For Anna the victory was also a welcome indication that a back injury she has been struggling with since mid 2005 is finally coming right. She opted not to line up in the 500m time trial on day one, the event in which she is the Olympic champion and World Record holder, to avoid aggravating the injury but had no problems in the sprint.

"It's definitely a confidence booster on the bike, knowing my back can take that workload," said Anna. "I really look forward to the next four weeks, where we'll really taper and start getting some speed work into our legs - hopefully we'll really be on fire for Melbourne."

In the race for the bronze medal American cyclist Jennie Reed proved too strong for newly crowned 500m time trial champion, West Australian, Kristine Bayley, defeating her rival in two straight heats.

The multi-disability tandem sprint final was clearcut with Paralympic gold medallist, Lindy Hou (pilot - Janelle Lindsay) claiming gold in straight heats over Felicity Johnson (pilot - Vicki Birks) from South Australia.

Junior scratch race action wrapped up the night with the U19 women's 7.5km gold medal also going to Victoria through Tess Downing who sprinted clear of Josephine Tomic (WA) and Courtney Le Lay (QLD).

Semi Final

Quarter Finals