Shepparton Cycling Club’s Jack Edwards and Brad and Rhianon Norton had rides to remember at the weekend, when they competed at the Elite State Championships.
Edwards, 14, competing in the under-17 age group, clinched gold in his 500m time trial, silver in the sprint and bronze in his 2km individual pursuit.
Rhianon Norton said it was a day of personal bests for the young gun.
“He got a bronze in his individual pursuit, but got a personal best in that, it wasn’t something that we’ve been specifically training for,” she said.
“He posted the second fastest flying 200 time and got silver in the sprint matches.
“Then in the 500m final, he rose to the challenge and won the gold from a standing start.”
Brad Norton also had an eventful weekend, securing a podium finish in a variety of his events.
“Brad competed in the 4km individual pursuit on day one and he qualified fastest by four seconds,” Rhianon said.
“Due to scheduling the final was due to go off under 40 minutes after the first one, normally it’s supposed to be two hours between the heat and final and given that Brad is 37 years old, it required an all-out effort repeating it in that time frame.”
Brad attempted to catch his opponent in the first kilometre of the pursuit, coming within 30m before the crowd’s excitement warned his opponent and claimed silver.
“He’d always wanted to go for the catch and it was definitely entertaining for the crowd to see someone go that quick,” Rhianon said.
He then went on to pick up the gold in his 1km time trial the following day, overcoming his opponent in that race by a jaw-dropping two thousandths of a second.
Meanwhile, Rhianon herself secured two medals, a gold in her 3km individual pursuit and bronze in the 500m time trial, capping a superb outing for the three.