UPDATED: Hammer wins third world pursuit title

Agence France Presse

The U.S.’s Sarah Hammer held off Britain’s Wendy Houvenaghel to reclaim the women’s individual pursuit title at the world track cycling championships on Wednesday.

Hammer, who had set a personal best of 3:27.826 to qualify, finished in 3:28.601 to reclaim the crown she won in 2006 and 2007.

In the bronze medal match Lithuania’s Vilija Sereikaite beat New Zealand’s defending champion Alison Shanks.

Hammer, whose career goal is to win gold at the London Games in 2012, trailed Houvenaghel by a fraction in the opening three laps however the American soon had control of the race, pushing the Northern Irishwoman steadily towards the silver medal position.

A third of the way into the 3km, 12-lap event Houvenaghel was over a second behind, and two seconds behind at the 2000 meter mark. Her deficit continued to grow and the 35-year-old eventually finished nearly four seconds adrift in 3:32.496.

Shanks, who beat Houvenaghel in last year’s final, had earlier failed to qualify for the final and was to be defeated again in the bronze medal match.

The Kiwi had a slower start than her Lithuanian rival and was trailing by a remarkable 1.9 seconds a third of the way in.

Shanks fought back valiantly, reducing her deficit to just one tenth of a second with a few laps remaining, but her bid failed in the final two laps.

While some big teams, like Britain, like to play down the importance of world championship titles in comparison to the Olympics, Hammer is of the opposite opinion.
On the way to the Beijing Games in 2008 she suffered a back injury, and she only placed fifth. She then broke her collarbone in the points race, and did  not compete throughout 2009.
But after spending eight months training in “ideal conditions” at the UCI training center in Aigle, Switzerland, where her husband is a head coach, she has returned to fighting form.

“I’ve been working really hard for the past eight months, and I wanted it,” she told AFP.
“Moving to Switzerland has made a huge difference to my training, not just because of the facilities but because I’m getting to train with a lot of younger athletes and that has given me a whole new perspective.

Qualifying Round
1. Sarah Hammer (USA)           3:27.826
2. Wendy Houvenaghel (GBR)      3:30.377
3. Alison Shanks (NZL)          3:31.259
4. Vilija Sereikaite (LTU)      3:31.905
5. Ellen Van Dijk (NED)         3:33.704
6. Lesya Kalitovska (UKR)       3:36.159
7. Jaime Nielsen (NZL)          3:37.212
8. Vera Koedooder (NED)         3:37.466
9. Tara Whitten (CAN)           3:38.315
10. Jian Fan (CHN)               3:38.519
11. Pascale Schnider (SUI)       3:39.111
12. Na Ah Reum (KOR)             3:39.518
13. Sarah Kent (AUS)             3:40.779
14. Verena Joos (GER)            3:41.092
15. Dalila Rodriguez (CUB)       3:41.277
16. Charlotte Becker (GER)       3:42.068
17. Elissavet Chantzi (GRE)      3:44.802
18. Ausrine Trebaite (LTU)       3:45.286
19. Vaida Pikauskaite (LTU)      3:45.782
20. Debora Galvez (ESP)          3:46.051
21. Chanpeng Nontansin (THA)     3:54.945
22. Wong Wan Yiu Jamie (HKG)     3:59.093

Medal Rounds:
Gold medal
Sarah Hammer (USA) 3:28.601sec defeats Wendy Houvenaghel (GBR) 3:32.496

Bronze medal
Vilija Sereikaite (LTU) 3:32.085 defeats Alison Shanks (NZL) 3:32.733

FILED UNDER: News / Track TAGS: UCI Track World Championships