Hammer earns fifth world championship in the individual pursuit

Hammer show off her gold medal. Photo: Hennes Roth/UCI

Minsk, Belarus (February 20, 2013) — Riding in her first event at the 2013 UCI Track World Championships, Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./Performance United - FELT) took home the gold medal in the individual pursuit after besting Australian Amy Cure. It is Hammer’s fifth world title in that event, having previously earned the rainbow stripes in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011.

Hammer posted the fastest time in the morning qualifying round. In the finals, her time of 3:32.050 was more than eight seconds faster than Cure’s. Annette Edmondson (AUS) defeated Canadian Laura Brown in the race for bronze.

“Having to qualify early in the program is always a challenge as you have to post the benchmark everyone else gets to aim for,” explained Benjamin Sharp, USA Cycling’s high performance director of endurance programs. “Fortunately, Sarah went into the final with some confidence after out-qualifying Amy Cure by three seconds. Nevertheless, you can never underestimate your opponent, especially when captained by one of the most respected, most experienced coaches, Gary Sutton. Cure put up a good fight, jumping out to a lead of nearly one second in the first kilometer, but Sarah stuck to the plan and chipped away at Cure's lead for the next four laps. Sarah made large gains in the final four laps, enjoying the advantage of getting close enough to see her opponent in the same stretch.”

Hammer, the current world record holder in the individual pursuit, began 2013 with a victory in the omnium at the track world cup in Aguascalientes, Mexico, in January. She has two more events left to contest at the world championships – the scratch race on Friday and the omnium through the weekend.

“Winning the pursuit world title is the best possible way to start the week of competition, and she is already looking forward to the scratch race and especially the omnium,” said Sharp.

For a complete schedule of events, visit the official 2013 Track World Championships website.

Watch a replay of the gold-medal race:

2013 UCI Track World Championships
Minsk, Belarus
February 20, 2013

FULL RESULTS | PHOTO GALLERY

Women’s 3K Individual Pursuit
1. Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./Performance United - FELT) 3:32.050
2. Amy Cure (AUS) 3:40.685
3. Annette Edmondson (AUS) 3:36.830