Gate trumps O'Shea for omnium title

Drama ensued in the final of the six event omnium when the expected gold medal ride-off between Gate and defending champion O'Shea never materialised after a mechanical malfunction forced the Australian off the track.

Gate rode on solo to post the fastest time of the kilo while O'Shea attempted to regroup off the track as the commissaries decided if the Australian could continue.

O'Shea won a reprieve and jumped out of the start gate on his own while Gate sat in the hot seat. The Australian failed to hit the necessary time checks and faded to fifth, which dropped him to the bronze medal position.

"I came out of the gate and did something to the back wheel, I think I might have broke it or something and I think it was a good start," said O'Shea. "But at the end of the day it probably wouldn't have mattered in the end result.

"The two guys in front of me were well deserved of where they came so I'm really happy with bronze,"

The result confirmed Gate, who won three of the six omnium events, as the world champion ahead of a Olympic champion Norman Lasse Hansen (DEN).

"I knew he (O'Shea) was a team pursuiter too and would be able to ride a good kilo," said Gate. "I couldn't really celebrate until after that ride. He was holding second place really close right up to the last lap. It was a pretty nerve-wracking few minutes.

"Once he crossed the line and I saw the time I was ecstatic. It was great to have the support from the BikeNZ support staff and the sprinters in the pits that made it all worth it. I had a feeling of relief and I am just overjoyed.

Great Britain's Rebecca James added to her nation's gold medal tally after winning the women's sprint title, breaking the six-year iron-grip on the event held by Victoria Pendleton and Australia's Anna Meares.

The 21-year-old Welsh cyclist James edged out Germany's Kristina Vogel in the final, making the most of the absence of the now-retired Pendleton and Olympic champion Meares, the duo who had shared all the major titles since 2007.

James had clocked the best time in qualifying, where she was the only woman to dip below 11 seconds, but came back from losing the first race in the final to win the next two against Vogel, who was an Olympic gold medallist in the team sprint.

It was also revenge for James who had lost out to the Germans in the team sprint on Wednesday where she and Jessica Varnish had to settle for bronze.

Vogel was the first German to make the individual final since Annette Neumann in 1996.

"It's unbelievable. I can't believe this has just happened to me," James told BBC.

"I'm world champion and I can't believe it. I didn't know if I'd run the first run quite right. We went over the tactics right after.

"I really wanted to win this so I sat down, kept myself calm and thought about what I wanted to do in the next round, did it, and did it again in the third.

"I didn't think I'd get a single medal, I was hoping to get top eight in everything. I can't believe I got a rainbow jersey."

The women's points race was won by Jarmila Machacova who claimed her first world title.

A silver medallist in the discipline two years ago in the Netherlands, the 27-year-old Czech finished ahead of Mexico's Sofia Arreola and Giorgia Bronzini of Italy.

Australia's Ashlee Ankudinoff struggled throughout the race and eventually abandoned.

Five Australians will be in action on the final day of the Championships. Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton line up in the women's keirin qualifying, Glenn O'Shea and Alex Edmondson will team up for the Madison and Annette Edmondson will continue her omnium campaign.

On the medal table Great Britain is on top with four gold, one silver and two bronze medals. Germany is sitting in second with two gold, three silver and one bronze while Australia lies third with two gold, two silver and three bronze medals.

Mens Omnium
1 Aaron Gate (NZL) 18pts
2 Norman Lasse Hansen (DEN) 21
3 Glenn O'Shea (AUS) 22

Women's Points Race
1 Jarmila Machacova (CZE) 30pts
2 Sofia navarro Arreola  (MEX) 29
3 Giorgia Bronzini (ITA) 22
DNF Ashlee Ankudinoff (AUS)

Women's Sprint Gold Medal
Rebecca James (GBR) def Kristina Vogel (GER)

Women's Sprint Bronze medal
1 Sze Wai Lee (HKG) def Shuang Guo (CHI)

6 Stephanie Morton (AUS), 7 Kaarle McCulloch (AUS)