PRUSZKOW (Poland): Filippo Ganna continued his dominance of the individual pursuit as the Italian produced a stunning performance to take gold at the world track championships on Friday.

The double world and 2017 European champion posted a stunning four minutes 07.456 seconds in morning qualifying — the fastest ever recorded at sea level — and almost matched it in the final with 4:07.992 to overwhelm Germany’s Domenic Weinstein. Davide Plebani took bronze for Italy.

Kirsten Wild of the Netherlands successfully defended her omnium title after a tense, decisive points race.

Locked together with Lety Paternoster she eventually forged clear for gold, with the 19-year-old Italian taking silver and American Jennifer Valente recovering well from a bad crash to claim bronze.

Dutchman Jan-Willem van Schip produced a dominant display to take the men’s points race ahead of Spain’s Sebastian Mora and Mark Downey, who claimed Ireland’s first medal of these championships.

Quentin Lafargue of France won the one kilometre time trial — an already-tough test made all the more gruelling by the riders having to ride a qualifying time in the morning.

The 35-year-old Dutchman Theo Bos, who won the first of his five track world titles in 2004, was second. Another Frenchman Michael d’Almeida was third in an event that was dropped from the Olympics in 2004.

Lee Wai Sze won gold for Hong Kong in the women’s sprint, showing remarkable power to twice chase down Stephanie Moreton and leave the Australian with a third successive silver in the event.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2019