Annette Edmondson Oceania Track Championships Individual Pursuit Gold
	October 10th 2014           Commonwealth Scratch Race Champion Annette Edmondson started her 2014/15 track season in the prefect way at the Oceania Championships in Adelaide on Thursday. Edmondson claimed the bronze medal in the individual pursuit at the 2013 Track World Championships. Despite this and numerous Oceania titles to her name Edmondson had never previously won the Individual Pursuit. "It is pretty cool to win it," said Edmondson after claiming her first title in the discipline. Already looking to the future. "I am hoping to do more individual pursuits this year. That’s why I’ve decided to give it a crack now to see how I can tackle it and get a few under my belt." In 2014 Edmondson claimed National Titles in the omnium, points and scratch races before claiming her third consecutive medal in the omnium at the World Championships in Colombia. Despite being a constant podium finisher at international level Edmondson’s first gold medal at a major international competition came with a dominant ride in the scratch race at the Commonwealth Games in July. After a short break Edmondson returned to the road, finishing her season with silver in the team time trial at the Road World Championships with her Orica-AIS squad. "I wasn’t too sure how I would go here to be honest. It is the fastest turnaround I have had." "It is the end of my second year on the road so I haven’t really got much experience in the transition kind of phase but I knew that because I had the two months on the track in the middle of the year I should be able to slot in quickly." Consistently in the top two times across the three kilometres of qualifying. On the closing laps Edmondson upped her speed to post the fastest qualifying time of 3mins 35.359secs. "I was quite lucky to have a rider to chase in the qualifying round because I feel it does give me a bit of an advantage." After taking an early lead over National teammate Rebecca Wiasak, Edmondson built an advantage and held if to the end to claim gold in a time of 3mins 37.598secs. "I am stoked with the times. I wasn’t expecting to do those." "It was really nice to be able to share the podium with Bec [Rebecca Wiasak] because she has had a bit of a rough run in selection in the last year. She has put out another good performance." Edmondson’s focus now turns to defending her title in her pet event the omnium. "It will be good to get some more racing in the legs, that is the main purpose over the next couple of days. Hopefully I’ll come out on top. I don’t usually line up without wanting to win."