A remarkable 21 medals have been won by the ARA Australian Cycling Team at the 2026 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.
Those 21 medals placed Australia second on the nation rankings.
The Aussies finished the fourth and final day on a high, winning three world championships that took their total haul to seven, along with nine silver medals and five bronze medals.
Korey Boddington finished with three rainbow jerseys, having won the C4 1km time trial, C4 sprint and anchored the mixed C1-5 team sprint to gold in the final against Great Britain alongside Caitlin Ward (C5) and Max Sudholz (C3).
Ward finished with two rainbows herself after an emotional C5 sprint win on the third night of racing at Omnisport Apeldoorn.
Tara Neyland went close to defending all three of her C4 world championships.
The Victorian was dominant in both the scratch race and elimination race, and narrowly missed out on gold in both the 1km time trial and sprint to Great Britain's Kadeena Cox.
Tahlia Clayton-Goodie was the ARA Australian Cycling Team's fifth rainbow jersey winner following her win in the C1 elimination race, run combined with C2 riders.
The win was a rewarding moment for the Victorian, who had won three silvers over the three previous days.
In total, 12 of the 13-member squad will be travelling home as Para Track Worlds medallists.
Medals won by the ARA Australian Cycling Team:
Gold
- Korey Boddington - C4 Men 1km Time Trial
- Korey Boddington - C4 Men Sprint
- Tara Neyland - C4 Women 1km Time Trial
- Tara Neyland - C4 Elimination Race
- Caitlin Ward - C5 Women Sprint
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie - C1 Women Elimination Race
- Caitlin Ward, Max Sudholz and Korey Boddington - Mixed C1-5 Team Sprint
- National record: 48.206
Silver
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie - C1 Women Sprint
- National record - Flying 200m: 14.508
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie - C1 Women Scratch Race
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie - C1 Women 1km Time Trial
- Max Sudholz - C3 Men Sprint
- Max Sudholz - C3 Men 1km Time Trial
- Kane Perris and Luke Zaccaria - B Men Sprint
- Tara Neyland - C4 Women 1km Time Trial
- Tara Neyland - C4 Women Sprint
- National record - Flying 200m: 11.710
- Gordon Allan - C2 Men Sprint
Bronze
- Beau Wootton and Byron Davies - B Men 1km Time Trial
- Beau Wootton and Byron Davies - B Men Sprint
- Caitlin Ward - C5 Women 1km Time Trial
- Alistair Donohoe - C5 Men Scratch Race
- Darren Hicks - C2 Men Elimination Race
What they said
Day 1
Korey Boddington - MC4 1km Time Trial World Champion said:
"Jody (Cundy) is an absolute legend of the sport. He’s won the kilo 16 times, and when I first started track cycling, dethroning him was one of my goals. To finally do that is pretty incredible.
"The track was slow, so riding a quick time was always going to be tough. But I ripped it out of the gate, held a great line and nailed everything we’ve been working so hard on.
"There have been plenty of challenges along the way and times I doubted whether I could get it all right. So, to come here, put it all together and deliver a ride like that means everything.
"I’m absolutely stoked and can’t thank everyone in my corner enough. None of this happens without them!"
Tara Neyland - WC4 Scratch Race World Champion said:
"First race to kick off the championships and there were a few nerves but I was mostly super keen to get out there and have some fun.
"I wanted to try a few attacks before possibly committing to taking a lap.
"When I went and saw I had a gap, I looked back a few times hesitating slightly, until I heard my coach yell 'don’t look back, commit!' So, that’s what I did.
"I haven’t successfully taken a lap before, so it was really cool to have done that."
Day 2
Korey Boddington - MC4 Sprint World Champion said:
"Tonight was epic! The three-up sprint is so unpredictable and that’s what makes winning it so special.
"Of the top three qualifiers, I was the only one to make the final, while Archie (Atkinson) qualified last and ended up racing for a medal.
"Even last year’s champion, Jody Cundy, missed the final. It just shows how anything can happen.
"I knew Quoqing had incredible top-end speed and Archie loves to go long, so I had to be ready for both.
"Unlike the kilo, where you can have a pretty good idea of what you’re capable of riding, the sprint has so many variables and nothing is guaranteed.
"To come away with the win against such a stacked field is incredibly rewarding.
"I’ll be honest, during the race I’m scared! I feel like an antelope being chased by two cheetahs. But what do you know, the antelope won today!"
Day 3
Caitlin Ward - WC5 Sprint World Champion said:
"I don’t think words can do it justice to describe this feeling. There is so much that comes with representing Australia and winning a rainbow jersey, but above all, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride.
"For almost 20 years, I’ve had an army of incredible humans in my corner. Through several career-changing moments and all the moments where we’ve fought our way back from it all, there has been relentless belief by my side.
"Moments like this are about so much more than my own resilience, commitment or determination. They are a reward for an entire village who have stood beside me, picked me up, believed in me and never given in with me. This one belongs to all of us and I am just so grateful to stand on the top step and represent all of them.
"2026 has certainly been a year of challenges and unexpected twists. I took the beginning of 2025 away from cycling to finish my masters degree, before building back towards racing through the latter half of the year, with big hopes and ambitions for what 2026 would bring.
"Unfortunately, a motorcycle accident in February changed those plans pretty quickly. I was left in a knee brace, unable to bend my knee beyond 100 degrees and, consequently, unable to ride. After a long road back, I only returned to any meaningful cycling load in August.
"Coming into this week, I honestly had very few expectations of performance and felt immense gratitude just to make it to the start line. I knew how limited my preparation had been, and having never raced internationally in C5 before, there was also an element of the unknown in terms of the competition.
"I'm incredibly proud of what Shane Kelly, the broader VIS team and I were able to pull together at these World Championships.
"I’ve been dreaming of wearing the rainbow jersey since my first Australian team at the 2012 Junior World Championships.
"Throughout my career, I’ve made three other World Championship sprint finals: at Junior Worlds, where I missed out on gold in two photo finishes; in Paris in 2022; and at the 2023 Glasgow Super Worlds, where our tandem lost the deciding ride by just 0.006 seconds. After so many near ‘almost’s’ it feels pretty special and incredible to stand on the top step."
Day 4
Max Sudholz - Mixed C1-5 World Champion (with Korey Boddington and Caitlin Ward) said:
"Watching Korey come across the line and seeing that we’d won the race. I felt emotional, it’s been a long ride to get here and for it to pay off like this is amazing.
"It was validation of all the hard work we’d put in by myself and all of the support staff that have helped to get me here.
"When I was growing up I never thought that this was a possibility.
"Wearing the green and gold for the first time is surreal, it’s such an honour and it wouldn’t be possible without the support staff at the event.
"Watching the race back and feeling the emotion of the win. This last week has been a whole new experience and to come away with three medals is amazing.
"I know that this team sprint combo has the potential to be something special and I’m really looking forward to what we can do over the next 18-24 months ahead of the LA Paralympics."
Feature picture: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com