Emily Petricola has won Australia's second gold medal at the world cycling championships in Glasgow, defending her title in the C4 Individual pursuit.
The Olympic champion and world record holder Petricola easily pulled away from Canada's Keely Shaw in the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome to win her third rainbow jersey in the event and her ninth world title in total.
"It felt better than I expected," the para-cyclist said.
"We've had a long wait between the heat and the final — five days is a long time to sit around watching everyone else race, I felt really strange all day, not sure what to do with myself, so I am just relieved I got through it and I get to go home with another rainbow jersey.
Now 43, the former Melbourne schoolteacher was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 27. In 2015, encouraged by former Olympic rower Matt Ryan, she took up cycling and, after working with ex-Olympic cyclist Shane Kelly, was competing, and winning silver and bronze, at the world championships three years later.
Honoured in 2022 with the Order of Australia medal she has to deal with constant fatigue, overheating, tremors in her arms and legs, foot drop on the left side, tingling and nerve pain in her limbs, and hands that don't work properly.
Before heading back to Australian Cycling Team headquarters in Adelaide, Petricola will be heading outside the velodrome for the time trial, which she won in 2019, and in which she picked up silver last year.
Petricola's success follows victory for Amanda Reid in the C2 500 metres time trial on Sunday.
In the BMX freestyle competition there was a silver medal for Olympic champion Logan Martin behind Britain's Kieran Reilly.
Rather than being disappointed the Queenslander saw a silver lining given the rising level of competition.
"I'm stoked on this one. The level of riding now is crazy, so to still be up there on the podium is still a special feeling," said Martin.
The 22-year-old Reilly nailed his second run to score 95.80. Martin's first run put him third with 93.56, but his second was delayed by a rain shower that intervened with just him and 2022 world champion Rimu Nakamura still to ride.
After that was mopped up with a 50-minute break, Nakamura climbed into fourth.
Martin then produced a superb ride including a backflip with a 180-degree turn that scored 95.30 to lift him above American Nick Bruce into silver, but left him agonisingly short of a third world title by half a point.
"It's always a hard task to make it to the podium," added Martin.
"I was sitting in third after my first run, I managed to step it up again, and bumped it up to second. It's always an honour to be here representing Australia, and to stand on the podium is always special as well."
Compatriot Josh Matthews came 19th.
AAP
Loading