Meares dominates as Keirin deciders play out

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Women's Keirin

Meares' win in the keirin brought her career tally of Australian track titles to 29 but she had to fend off a late charge from Sydney's Kaarle McCulloch to secure the victory.

"I'm not after the easy win, I'm after the win that's going to make me better," said Meares who also won team sprint and sprint gold medals this week. "And that hurt like hell. The old lactic acid isn't anyone's friend, is it?"

Meares grabbed the wheel of the derny pace bike from the start and used it to full advantage, powering away from her rivals as the bike left the track. She surged to a massive lead and McCulloch, who was caught in traffic, had to firstly pass four others before she could try to close the gap. She made up ground quickly but Meares held on to win by mere centimetres.

"When I saw I'd drawn one and Kaarle had drawn six, I thought that was a good opportunity to put some distance between us and make her work really hard as well," explained Meares of the draw that put her at the bottom of the track and McCulloch at the top on the start line.

"I realised the gap was significant, but not enough to withstand a good run from Kaarle, so I had to really commit otherwise I was going to find myself in the position where I was going to be run down," she said. "This is the most level event for the two of us to come head-to-head, you saw that, I won it by half a tyre. (But) I'd rather almost lose than almost win."

But the pair will soon reunite for the team sprint in which they have won the world title for the past three years.

"I'm actually really excited, I feel like I've taken a great deal of confidence from these championships," said Meares. "The plan that Gary (West - coach) has for me is working and that goes a long way when you're out there on your own - sometimes that trust or backing is all you have.

"I will be leaning on that for sure," Meares added.

McCulloch had no regrets after collecting one gold and three silver medals at the championships.

"I wasn't quite expecting the gap to open up that quickly, but I bided my time and I went as hard as I could, but I guess I just needed five more metres of track," said McCulloch. "But I am happy with how I rode today as I think it was probably one of the first keirin championships where I had a little bit of patience.

"Plus, I was a good deal off her at the 200m mark and I almost got her, so I have to be pretty happy with the speed in my legs right now," she said.

Men's Keirin

Nineteen-year-old Matthew Glaetzer thrilled the crowd with a display of power and control that belied his years to claim his maiden senior keirin crown.

"It's massive, I didn't expect it to be honest," said Glaetzer, who burst on to the international scene at 17 when he won the sprint/keirin double at the junior world titles. "I just went out there and tried to execute my perfect race to win and it came together."

Glaetzer unleashed a withering burst of speed that left the rest of the field, including reigning world champion Shane Perkins, scramblingfor position in his wake.

At the bell lap Glaetzer was still in front with Perkins boxed in by the NSW duo of Andrew Taylor and Mitch Bullen. Spurred on by his hometown fans Glaetzer, a former pole vaulter, lunged at the line to clinch the win from Taylor with Bullen third. Perkins finished fourth.

"I knew I had to get to the front, put myself in a position to win and make it really hard for the others to come around," said Glaetzer, who teamed with Glasspool and Nathan Corrigan on Friday night to win the team sprint title.

"I expected Perkins to charge, and when I spotted him near the back I thought if he's going to win this, he's going to have to hit and get to the front.

"Then I saw him attack and responded pretty hard to make sure I kept front position, which I did." added Glaetzer.