Track World Championships: Joanna Rowsell beaten to pursuit bronze by Amy Cure
Last Updated: 21/04/15 5:16pm
Defending champion Joanna Rowsell had to settle for fourth place in the 3km individual pursuit at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Paris after being beaten in the bronze-medal final by Australia’s Amy Cure.
Rowsell had qualified fourth fastest behind Cure earlier on Friday and was unable to turn the tables in a one-sided contest.
Rowsell was 1.4 seconds behind after 1km, 2.7 seconds down after 2km and eventually lost by 3.4 seconds.
It was her second defeat to Cure in 24 hours after both riders had taken part in Australia’s win over Great Britain in the women’s team pursuit gold-medal final on Thursday.
Australia’s Rebecca Wiasak won individual pursuit gold after defeating the United States’ Jennifer Valente in the final.
Elsewhere on the third day of the championships, Britain’s Jess Varnish was eliminated from the women’s individual sprint at the quarter-final stage after losing 2-0 to Australia’s Stephanie Morton.
Varnish had beaten two-time Olympic champion Anna Meares, of Australia, in the previous round.
Morton will be joined by the Netherlands’ Elis Ligtlee, China’s Tianshi Zhong and defending champion Kristina Vogel, of Germany, in Saturday’s semi-finals.
France’s Francois Pervis remains on course to win the sprint treble for the second year in a row after claiming gold in the men’s 1km time trial.
Pervis, who won the keirin on Thursday and will ride the individual sprint over the weekend, beat Germany’s Joachim Eilers into second place and New Zealand’s Matthew Archibald into third.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Mark Christian finished 17th in the men’s points race, which was won by Russia’s Artur Ershov.
In the men's omnium, Britain's Jon Dibben lies 11th after three of the six events. Colombia's Fernando Gaviria leads at the halfway stage on 110 points, with Italy's Elia Viviani second on 102.
