Matt Glaetzer has lived up to his billing as the world's top-ranked sprinter to, along with endurance rider Glenn O'Shea, put Australia in a strong position to add to its medal tally at the track cycling world championships in London.
Glaetzer was the most impressive performer in the men's 200m sprint on Friday (Saturday AEDT), posting the fastest flying sprint of the day to confirm his gold medal intentions.
He flew through the opening three rounds of competition, stopping the clock at 9.766 seconds in his opening ride to edge out local hope, and his strongest opposition for gold, Jason Kenny and Dutchman Jeffrey Hoogland - both of whom posted times of 9.767 seconds.
Glaetzer then knocked off former world champion Theo Bos of the Netherlands in the round of 16 and China's Xu Chao in impressive fashion to rubber stamp his credentials.
The 23-year-old Glaetzer already owns one rainbow jersey following his triumph alongside Scott Sunderland and Shane Perkins in the team sprint at the 2012 world championships in Melbourne.
But to add to another one he faces three significant hurdles - starting with France's defending champion and four-time winner Gregory Bauge on Saturday (Sunday morning AEDT).
O'Shea, meanwhile, has a potentially tougher task ahead and currently sits ninth on 68 points at the halfway mark of the omnium event, with the time trial, flying lap and all-important points race to come on Saturday.
The 26-year-old, who won the event in 2012, started strongly on Friday with a fifth-placed finish in the scratch race before falling away in the individual pursuit with a 4 minute 29.883 second 17th-place ride.
He finished the night with seventh in an entertaining elimination race.
Italy's Elia Viviani and Colombian Fernando Gaviria Rendon have a share of top spot after day one with 102 points.
Share
