Sprinters claim silver medal at Youth Olympics

17 January 2013
Attention Sports Editors
Sprinters claim silver medal at Youth Olympics

The New Zealand junior track cycling unit made a solid start to the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Bankstown, NSW today with a silver medal in the Team Sprint.

The under-18 men’s trio of Quinn Karwowski (Tasman), Zac Williams (Auckland) and Jeremy Presbury (Southland) finished second behind Australia in a time of 46:09. The fourth team member Callum Saunders (Tasman) rode in the qualifier but was replaced for the final.

“We changed the combination around a little bit for the final because it was a short turnaround and we had an improved ride which was good to see,” said BikeNZ junior sprint coach John Rastrick.

“We’re certainly going in the right direction. We went faster than we went at the Oceania Championships last month and the guys are looking pretty good at the moment.

“There was less than 2/100s of a second in it so it was a very close final. The Aussies were dying at the end and we were coming on and catching them so it was very tight.”

These four Kiwi sprinters have each showed tremendous potential on the track and are being earmarked for the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Glasgow later this year.

“The four riders that we brought over here are the four boys we are looking at for the Junior Track World’s so we made sure to use all four riders and they all got on the podium, so we have certainly got what we came for in terms of times and results so far,” said Rastrick.

All four sprinters will be back on the Dunc Gray Velodrome tomorrow; this time as individuals in the intensely exciting Keirin event. Meanwhile, Chad Elliston (Auckland) and Liam Aitcheson (Southland) will get underway in the multi-leg Omnium competition.

“Our guys are looking pretty sharp at the moment so we’re expecting some good performances and results in those events tomorrow,” said Rastrick.

For more information, including full results, visit www.olympic.org.nz.

ENDS

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