She rode strongly during the 50 lap race, placing second in intermediate sprints two and four, and then picking up a further point at the end when she crossed the line in fourth place.
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This gave her a total of five points, level with silver medallist Elizabeth Clayton (Great Britain). However her better placing in the final sprint (4th versus Clayton�s 6th) saw her earn the blue rainbow jersey plus the gold medal. It added to the bronze medal she took on Thursday in the women�s scratch race.
�I�m over the moon, delighted with it. It was one my goals coming to the masters, I targeted the points race and the scratch race,� she said after the medal ceremony. �They were what I was working at, so to come out as world champion is brilliant, fantastic.�
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Aideen Collard competed in the same event, with her results in the sprints determining her finishing position in the 35-39 category. She took a bronze medal in the 35-39 age group, slotting in behind Dena Eaton (USA) and Amanda Wray (South Africa) and adding to the two silver and one bronze medals already achieved by her.
�I was happy with anything today, considering I had very tired legs from six days of racing and from the late-night sprints last night,� she said. �I think my best performances were in the 2k pursuit, the scratch race and the sprint. I�ll probably focus on endurance events next year rather than trying to do everything.�
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Terry Cromer competed in the men�s 55-59 points race but was fatigued from the previous days� racing and did not finish that event.
�I was most satisfied with the sprint races, in that I got as far as I did with such tough competition,� he said afterwards, speaking about his overall campaign. �I beat a few more people on the way that I hadn�t in previous years. My plan now is take a year out of the Masters as there are too many strong riders � today we had the world hour record holder for his age group, as well as the rider with the world hour derny record.
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�When you have that, along with the toughest of sprinters, it doesn�t leave a lot of room for picking up medals. So I�ll take a year out, then come back guns blazing for the next category.�
Simon Coughlan took a silver medal in the individual pursuit earlier this week, helping the Irish riders achieve a final tally of one gold, three silvers and three bronze medals.
He finished his campaign on Thursday, while the other three continued until today.
Collard said that she hoped the results would have a positive effect in terms of motivating others. �We hope that this will encourage women from Irish cycling to compete at this level or higher in the future,� she said. The trio thanked Cycling Ireland and mechanic Ger McNamara, who drove 2000 kilometres to Portugal with equipment.
Collard said that she had important help from Niall Delahaye of Sports Med Ireland; Hendron thanked her coach Paddy Doran. �He has been keeping me in good nick all year, so it has been great. Hopefully we can build on it for next year.�
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Masters world track championships, Anadia, Poland:
35-39:
1, Dena Eaton (USA) 10 points
2, Amanda Wray (South Africa) 2
3, Aideen Collard (Ireland) 1
45-49:
1, Orla Hendron (Ireland) 5 points
2, Elizabeth Clayton (Great Britain) 5
3, Jayne Paine (Great Britain) 3
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