On this day in 2012 Great Britain’s Joanna Rowsell, Dani King and Laura Trott set a sensational second world record of the day to win three-kilometre team pursuit gold at the Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne.
The trio clocked three minutes 15.720 seconds to ensure Britain won four of the first five team pursuit titles after the event was incorporated into the World Championships programme.
The British trio – with 2008, 2009 and 2011 world champion Wendy Houvenaghel a mere spectator – wound up after a start which saw them trail by almost 1.5 seconds with a phenomenal final kilometre to win by 1.233secs.
It meant King and Trott retained the title won in Apeldoorn in March 2011 and Rowsell claimed a first world champion’s rainbow jersey since Pruszkow in 2009.
Australia’s Annette Edmondson, Melissa Hoskins and Josephine Tomic were second in 3mins 16.943secs as the two teams built up a strong rivalry ahead of the forthcoming Olympics in London.
However, it was the Brits who stormed to glory at their home Games, claiming gold in the Velopark ahead of the United States and Canada.
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