Simon Coughlan took an excellent second in the final of the 3km individual pursuit at the Masters World Championships tonight, having qualified fastest this afternoon.
The 35 year old Athlone rider was up against the Canadian rider Trevor Gunderson in the final. He was almost a full second quicker than him in qualifying, but the Canadian stepped up a level and was ahead throughout the gold-medal showdown.
“I put everything into this for the past twelve months,” Coughlin said afterwards. “Things went as planned. The pacing was right tonight – I did it as I wanted to do, there were no mistakes. It was red line all the way, but the fastest guy won.
“From about eight laps to go I could see him in the corner of my eye, so he was always within two seconds. I only started to fade at the end…my legs felt pretty good, he just went faster.”
Earlier, Orla Hendron went in the bronze medal final of the women’s 45-49 individual pursuit. She started briskly but faded towards the end, with her opponent Makiko Hamada (Japan) pulling ahead in the final two laps. There was just over a second between them at the end of the 2km distance.
Coughlin’s medal is the second silver of the day. This morning, Aideen Collard was runner-up in the women’s individual pursuit for the 35-39 age group.
Racing continues tomorrow with scratch races for the various categories. Coughlan was listed as riding this plus Sunday’s points race, but he confirmed this evening that the individual pursuit would be his only event at this year’s champs.
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Masters’ world track championships, Anadia, Portugal:
Individual pursuit
Men, 35-40:
1, Simon Coughlan (Ireland) 3km in 3 mins 32.178 secs
2, Trevor Gunderson (Canada) 3 mins 33.170 secs
3, Daniel del Barco (Argentina) 3 mins 37.800 secs
4, Karl Chandavoine (France) 3 mins 38.614 secs
Final:
For gold:
1, Trevor Gunderson (Canada) 3km in 3 mins 33.205 secs
2, Simon Coughlan (Ireland) 3 mins 34.766
For bronze:
3, Karl Chandavoine (France) 3 mins 37.014
4, Daniel del Barco (Argentina)
Women, 45-49:
Final, for gold:
1, Clare Newland (Great Britain) 2 mins 35.37
2, Jayne Payne (Great Britain) 2 mins 40.456
Final, for silver:
3, Makiko Hamada (Japan) 2 mins 44.594
4, Orla Hendron (Ireland) 2 mins 45.775