World Track Championships 2007

Palma, Majorca, Spain

WCN quicklink >>  Day 1 - Team Sprint Qualifying     Team Sprint Final    Qualifying Photos    Finals Photos

                              Day 2 - Sprint Qualifying        Pursuit qualifying and final     Photos

                              Day 3 -  500m TT     Scratch Race   Sprint Final     Photos

                              Day 4 -  Points Race    Keirin Finals     Photos

Day 2

Pursuit Qualifying and Finals

Race Writeup

Sarah Hammer retained her individual pursuit title at the world track championships, powering to victory over Britain's former Olympic rowing silver medallist Rebecca Romero.

Hammer repeated her pursuit world championship win that has not been repeated by an American since 1984/85 when Rebecca Twigg did the double.

The United States rider, who had set the fastest time in qualifying, got an early edge against her less-experienced rival and extended her lead as the race went on to claim an emphatic win.

In the ride for Bronze, Katie Mactier (AUS) secured a medal with a strong and consistent ride against Wendy Houvenaghel (GBR). Mactier (Australia) never looked like she would struggle; at each split, she had increased her lead on Wendy Houvenaghel (GBR). Mactier took the medal in a time of 3 min 33.409 seconds.

Last year's silver medallist, Russian Olga Slyusareva, finished 18th in the qualifiers

Sarah Hammer  was all smiles as she stopped to talk to the media. "It couldn't be better, I wanted that so bad," Hammer said. “To do it twice is amazing and Romero put in an amazing performance.  "I know her background and totally respect her. I knew I had to lay it all out on the line so I couldn't be happier."

Hammer said she wanted to prove her 2006 victory was no fluke. "I knew coming in that I wanted to win," she said. "Many people didn't think I could but this was me saying last year wasn't just a fluke. That was the real deal and I'm here to stay. When you are in a final against one other person going for a rainbow jersey you can kick but in a final it is not so much your legs as your mind and that's one of my strong points."

Rebecca Romero's silver medal was an outstanding performance, considering she only took up cycling last April with the aim of achieving the same elite standard she reached in rowing. Romero went into the final hoping to win gold but to achieve the silver was amazing in her first world championships. “It’s a strange situation to be in, obviously I new I could be in the top 6 coming into this event and to find myself in the final after my qualifying time this morning was amazing. I was ranked behind and came through even with all of the big guns here. I am so amazed that I made the Gold/Silver ride off. Also knowing that I was so close to Hammer’s time is great. I want this so badly right now. I thought that if I didn’t go well today that would be ok, but now I know what I can do.”

Romero was asked how this medal compares to the rowing medals she has won in the past. She added, “This was all about what I could do today and that’s what I wanted when I changed sports. I said at the beginning of this project that I would make it work. I now have to go out and do it and today is a great start. I am really proud of what I have done today.

Katie Mactier (Australia) came up against Great Britain's Wendy Houvenaghel in the bronze medal final and proved to strong for her rival posting a time of 3min36.306sec to Houvenaghel's 3min37.406sec. It's the second year running that Mactier has claimed the bronze medal and she admits she was a little disappointed to not be in the gold medal final. "Certainly it's been a long campaign and ultimately to win is always my objective but a bronze medal with Beijing looming next year we can walk away knowing exactly what we have to do in order to improve on that," said Mactier who took silver in Athens and in 2005 was crowned World Champion.

She won the Commonwealth title last year in Melbourne. "To medal here I'm still very, very happy but certainly there's a lot more work to be done with the objective to win next year. A year out there's a good chance the girls medaling now are the ones we'll have to be watching," said Mactier of the newly crowned World Champion Sarah Hammer and silver medallist Rebecca Romero of Great Britain. "The times are academic because tracks differ dramatically with conditions but my PB still hasn't been achieved by any of the girls and having said that I would still like to do another PB and hopefully that one will be at the all important Beijing Games next year." Mactier is slated to go to the Beijing World Cup being staged in December as the only test event for the Olympic Velodrome. "It will be a good opportunity to have a look at the track and it's an advantage to know what you're going into to,” she added.

Wendy Houvenaghel (GBR) was disappointed with her 4^th place having won the world cup series this year. “I am disappointed, when you come to these championships the aim is to be on the podium. I have a bit of work to do I think. I tore an inter-costal muscle my right so it was making it hard for me to breathe fully. Hopefully I can get it right in the next couple of weeks. I know I have work to do but I am now at the upper echelon of the sport and it is tough, I still have more work to do before next year.”