High5 Dream Team’s Rebecca Wiasak has stormed to back-to-back World Championship titles with a scintillating performance in the individual pursuit final, winning gold in London in a time of 3:34.009 ahead of Poland’s Malgorzata Wojtyra.
Earlier in the day, Wiasak set a track record for the Lee Valley Velopark with a time of 3:31.287 in the afternoon qualifying session.
Averaging 50.443 km/h in the final, Wiasak set a blistering early pace, opening up a lead of 1.4 seconds on Wojtyra in the first kilometre, which was extended to four seconds after the second kilometre. In the final kilometre, Wiasak turned on the after burners, scorching the boards to win by almost eight seconds, thrilling the capacity crowds.
An emotional Wiasak was excited to pull on the rainbow jersey again.
“As defending champion I did feel a little bit of pressure. My team pursuit teammates are up tomorrow and I feed off them, I’m so confident because of the way we have prepared for this competition and we’re all in fantastic form. They back me and really believe in me.
“I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to defend my title. It is an incredible feeling. I am thrilled to be able to have pulled it off and it feels just as special as last year.
“You come to the World Championships wanting to win, but everything has to come together on the day, I had full faith in the staff around me, Sutto (Gary Sutton), Ian McKenzie. They all got me here today.
“And velodrome record this morning and a time of 3.31, which is world class. But the jersey and the gold medal just top off that record.”
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