South Australian track cyclist Annette Edmondson continues to impress ahead of the London Olympics, producing a record ride at the national titles.
The 20-year-old smashed her 3000m individual pursuit personal best time by about seven seconds to qualify fastest on day two of the championships in Adelaide.
She will take on NSW rider Ashlee Ankudinoff in Friday night’s final after clocking an impressive three minutes 30.586 seconds.
It is also an Australian all-comers’ record, breaking the 3:30.604 that New Zealand legend Sarah Ulmer rode at the 2004 Melbourne world championships to break the then world record.
Ulmer broke the world mark again that year at the Athens Olympics.
“I didn’t realise that – eight years’ standing,” she said of breaking Ulmer’s record.
“That’s awesome – it still hasn’t really sunk in.”
Edmondson is among six members of the women’s track endurance squad who are in contention for the London Olympics.
She was the latest addition to the squad, joining them in September, and has made impressive progress.
Edmondson is now a certainty to go to London next month for the pre-Olympic World Cup round.
The nationals are the last phase of a selection process for the women’s track endurance riders ahead of the London World Cup.
Competition between them is extremely tight and they also had unofficial trials earlier this week.
Ankudinoff and WA’s bronze medal ride-off opponents Josie Tomic and Melissa Hoskins are also in the track endurance group.
Their events at the Olympics will be the team pursuit, where Australia won the world title two years ago, and the omnium.
After the London World Cup, Edmondson hopes to gain selection for the Melbourne world titles in April and then the Olympics.
“Given this is the Olympic year and I want to make the world champs, which are very soon, the event I want to win is the individual pursuit,” she said.
“So to go out and do a time like that in qualifying is really important to me.
“I was hoping to do a 33 or so and to go out and do a 30 is really exciting.”
Edmondson, a former top-level junior sprinter, gave away the sport for four months in 2010.
She decided to return and transferred to the endurance events, quickly realising she had made the right choice.
Meanwhile, world champion Anna Meares qualified fastest for the sprint on Friday with a flying 200m time of 11.133.
Kaarle McCulloch (NSW) was next in 11.219.
Rising star Matthew Glaetzer (SA) qualified fastest among the men in 10.1, ahead of NSW rider Andrew Taylor’s 10.123 and world keirin champion Shane Perkins from Victoria (10.158).
Queensland’s Taylah Jennings won the under-19 women’s 500m time trial in 35.403 seconds.