* Hoy closes curtain with keirin gold
* Australia’s Meares sets time trial world record
(Adds details, quotes)
By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE, April 8 (Reuters) – Chris Hoy stormed to victory
in the keirin on the closing day of the cycling world
championships in Melbourne on Sunday to send Team GB home
brimful of confidence ahead of the London Olympics.
Trailing fourth into the final bend and seemingly out of
medal contention, Hoy roared down the velodrome slope to take
the inside lane and powered home to edge Germany’s Maximilian
Levy on the line to notch his 11th world title.
The 36-year-old Scotsman’s brilliant victory brought the
curtain down on a championships marked by a dominant performance
by Britain and a rash of world records.
Team GB snared five out of 10 of the Olympic category gold
medals up for grabs in Melbourne, putting their great rivals
Australia in the shade. The hosts claimed only three of the
Olympic titles, with Germany and France snaring one apiece.
“You never know, it might be (my last world championships),
but if it is, then what a way to finish,” four-times Olympic
champion Hoy told reporters.
“I’d felt the chance of winning had gone by the time I hit
the back straight with half a lap to go, I’d hesitated for too
long.
“Normally I would have gone around the outside and just put
my foot down but I’d kind of killed the run-on and lost
momentum.
“So it was one last chance. I’d never done it before in my
life – gone up the inside – it was a real kind of last chance
saloon…I couldn’t believe the door opened and I managed to get
through.”
New Zealand’s Simon Van Velthooven, one of a clutch of
riders nonplussed by the barrel-chested Scot’s audacious move,
crossed the line third but was later relegated for illegally
moving into a rider’s line, handing the bronze to sprint silver
medallist Jason Kenny.
GREATEST SPRINT CYCLIST
Britain’s coaches were left to marvel at the daring of Hoy,
the greatest sprint cyclist of his generation.
“It was a bit like a boxer who goes to the 15th round, loses
the first bloody 14 but he’s still standing, he’s still a
chance,” Britain’s head coach Shane Sutton told Reuters.
“He was gone, 100 metres out, he was gone. But he was still
standing, and he took his chance.”
Hoy became the first Briton to win three golds at a single
Olympics in 100 years when he won the sprint, team sprint and
keirin gold at the 2008 Beijing Games.
He aims to defend all three at London although his hopes in
the sprint suffered a blow with an off-colour ride to lose the
semi-final against team mate Jason Kenny on Saturday.
However Sutton said Hoy’s scorching ride in the keirin was
justification enough to keep him in the selection frame for the
lone sprint berth, Sutton said.
“One hundred percent. Hoy was untouchable in London,” said
the Australian, referring to the Scot’s World Cup sprint win at
the Olympic test event in the London velodrome.
“There was nothing between (he and Kenny) here. They’ve
given us a nice headache.”
British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford hailed
his riders’ performance at Melbourne, upstaging the hosts on
their home track and peaking at the right time before London.
“I think it’s probably been the toughest world championships
I have ever seen. The depth of the competition has been immense.
Every single medal has been a real battle,” Brailsford told
Reuters.
“So from our point of view, we were looking to accelerate
our performance and step up as we go towards the Games.
“It’s always happy when you see momentum and see
progression.”
MEARES WORLD RECORD
Australia’s Anna Meares earlier set a world record to win
the 500 metres time trial title, burning around the Hisense
Arena to post a time of 33.010 seconds and smash the previous
mark of 33.296 set by Lithuania’s Simona Krupeckaite in 2009.
It was Meares’s second world record at her home
championships. The 28-year-old also set a new mark in a flying
200 metres lap of the first qualifying session in the women’s
sprint.
“I can’t be too disappointed with that,” said Meares, who
previously held the world record from her gold medal-winning
ride at the 2004 Athens Games before the event was stripped from
the Olympic programme.
“I love this event…There’s no one else to get in my way for
starters and it’s pure speed and it suits pure control.”
Meares tearfully lost her sprint title to British arch-rival
Victoria Pendleton in the final on Friday but put the
disappointment behind her to win the keirin title the following
evening.
New Zealand’s Alison Shanks defeated Briton Wendy
Houvenaghel for her second title in the non-Olympic women’s
individual pursuit. Ashlee Ankudinoff won an all-Australian
battle against Amy Cure for bronze.
Kenny de Ketele and Gijs Van Hoecke won the non-Olympic
madison title for Belgium ahead of silver medallists Britain and
bronze-winners Australia.
(Editing by Alastair Himmer, Pritha Sarkar and John
Mehaffey)
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