Stourbridge Sport
Varnish and Pendleton take gold with world record performance
9:13pm Friday 17th February 2012
Halesowen cycling star Jess Varnish has struck gold with a world record performance at the London Track World Cup.
The Halesowen Cycling Club rider and team-mate Victoria Pendleton beat Australian duo of Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Meares in the women’s team sprint final at the Olympic Velodrome, posting a time of 32.754 seconds to smash the world record set only hours earlier in qualifying by their Aussie rivals.
In a dramatic race, first lap rider Varnish opened with an 18.792 lap, bettering the personal best she had earlier set in qualifying.
But McCulloch posted an 18.5 opener, leaving Pendleton with it all to do in the closing lap. She did not disappoint, pulling a 13.962 second lap out of the bag to beat Meares head to head and claiming Britain’s first gold in the new London venue.
Earlier in the day, Pendleton and Varnish produced a new British record to qualify in a time of 32.966 seconds.