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Superstar Anna Meares claimed her second silver to help Australia finish tied with Germany for most medals at the track cycling world championships.
Meares followed her 500m time trial silver with a second placing behind all-conquering German Kristina Vogel in the keirin – an event she won in 2011 and 2012 – on the final day in Cali, Colombia.
And countrywoman Annette Edmondson clinched her third consecutive world championship podium appearance in the women’s omnium with a bronze medal.
They took Australia’s final medal tally at the five-day championships to eight – three gold (men’s team pursuit, Alex Edmondson in men’s individual pursuit and Amy Cure in women’s points race), two silver and three bronze.
While the medal tally was impressive, Australia’s national high performance chief Kevin Tabotta was cautiously optimistic about the implications.
“No country was able to really dominate here in Cali and so our eight medals with three gold is a good indicator of our progress as we head toward the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in July,” said Tabotta.
“We still have some work to do to be true podium contenders at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games across the program of events, but things are heading in the right direction.”
In the final men’s sprint event, South Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer rallied from a nasty crash earlier in the meet to claim fourth place and earn special praise.
“The way that Matt Glaetzer bounced back to line up with his injuries two days later and then go on to make his first semi-final appearance in the highly competitive men’s sprint event was an inspiration to the team,” said Tabotta.
The women’s keirin turned into a three-way battle in the final between Meares, Vogel – looking for her third gold medal after pocketing sprint and team sprint victories earlier in the week – and reigning world champion Becky James.
Powerhouse Vogel prevailed narrowly to become just the third woman in history with Anna Meares (2011) and Victoria Pendleton (2007) to win three sprint gold medals at one championship.
Meares was happy with her effort.
“I wasn’t sure how I was going to go today,” Meares said.
“I was so happy to fight as much as I did and to come as close as I did to Kristina, who is in amazing form. I think it was a great race, it really was.”
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