24/03/2011 - Cycling Southland's Eddie Dawkins earned sixth place in the Team Sprint at the World Track Championships in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands this morning.
Dawkins anchored the BikeNZ team along with Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster and registered a 45.032 in today's qualifying - just half a second outside a medal ride. BikeNZ's High Performance Manager Mark Elliot says it was a great effort by the young team beating some powerhouse countries including China, Japan and Poland proving their top result last year is truly reflective of where they deserve to be on the world stage.
Elsewhere today the Mens Team Pursuiters failed in their bid to claim another world championship medal, being beaten into fourth by Great Britain in this morning's ride for bronze, while Jo Kiesanowski warmed up for the Womens Omnium with a strong finish over the second half of the race to take ninth in the Womens Points Race.
Dawkins backs up tomorrow and the Men's Sprint along with Sam Webster while Day Two also features to our NZ's top medal prospects - Jesse Sergent in the Mens Individual Pursuit and the Women's Team Pursuit of Alison Shanks, Jamie Nielsen and Kaytee Boyd.
Approximate Race times for Friday morning follow:
01:00 - Men's Individual Pursuit Qualifying
02:15 - Men's Sprint Qualifying
03:25 - Women's Team Pursuit Qualifying
04:55 - Men's Sprint 1/16 Finals
07:30 - Men's Sprint 1/8 Finals
08:10 - Men's Sprint 1/8 Finals Repecharge
08:15 - Women's Team Pursuit Finals
08:30 - Men's Sprint Quarterfinals
09:25 - Men's Individual Pursuit Finals
09:50 - Men's Sprint 5th-8th Place
Follow results live online here
Link to live streaming video here