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The ARA Australian Cycling Team's four-day blitz on the 2025 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships has ended on another winning note in Rio de Janeiro.
Australia's 16th world championship of the week was secured in a pulsating Mixed C1-5 Team Sprint final against perennial rivals Great Britain by a nail-biting 0.02 seconds.
Erin Rowell, Michael Shippley and Korey Boddington started the final, with Shippley brought into the line-up for Gordon Allan after qualifying.
Down by 0.8 after Rowell's opening lap, Shippley sliced the deficit in half on the second time around Rio Olympic Velodrome, opening the door for a rampaging Boddington to claw Great Britain's remaining lead in a stellar last lap performance.
That moment of euphoria was the sixth and last medal won on Sunday, taking Australia's total haul to 25, made up of 16 gold, four silver and five bronze.
Tara Neyland added a third track world title in the C4 Women Scratch Race, which draws her remarkable debut season to a close as a five-time world champion across the velodrome and the road.
Tahlia Clayton-Goodie completed a clean sweep of the C4 Women events, winning the elimination race.
Both tandems went deep to collect silver sprint medals and Emily Petricola collected her fourth medal of the week in the C3 Women Sprint.
Speaking about the team's unprecedented UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships campaign, AusCycling's Head Coach of Para-cycling, Sheila Galloway, said the result was historic for the program.
"Our first time ranked number one in the world since 2014 and our most successful to date. Delivering 25 medals, 16 rainbow jerseys and six world records reflects the courage, commitment, and unity of this exceptional team," she said.
"These Championships also gave us the chance to compete in new events for LA 2028 — to experiment, take risks, and gain valuable learnings for the future. Continued investment through the Australian Government's Para Uplift funding has been vital in removing barriers and providing more Australian athletes the opportunity to race internationally. Expanding our team and exposing athletes to world-class competition is driving performance now and building momentum toward Los Angeles.
"Our riders, staff, and support network have set a new benchmark for excellence and inspired immense pride across the green and gold."
What they said
Michael Shippley:
I still don’t believe it. It’s been a hard slog the last few years and it’s a special event to win because para cycling is such an individual sport, most of our events are timed so you just race the clock.
Winning my first world championship with my teammates is super special, it’s something that I’ll never forget and I’ll always be grateful for because I couldn’t have done it without them.
Erin Rowell:
The whole week has been massive, so to end on a high is just awesome. I’m absolutely stoked to do it with the team and finish on a win. The team sprint is always such a fun event — one you always want to be a part of, especially now that it’s got to include a girl in the lineup. I’m really excited to see where we go from here.
This year has been really positive for me. I’ve been surrounded by an incredible group of people, and having Shane Kelly as my new coach has been instrumental in making a lot of great changes. It’s been a year of growth, support, and good energy and being around the right people always helps put you in the right place.
Korey Boddington:
Sensational! Incredible stuff absolutely speechless!
Erin nailed it out of the gate, but after watching the Spanish qualify fastest we knew we’d have to PB as a combo to make the gold final. The pressure was coming and Erin handled it perfectly. Everyone did their job spot on and we went to the top, but GB came out a couple of seconds quicker and pushed us to second.
Back at the hotel I was crunching the numbers. With Michael swapping in for the two, and assuming both teams did the same, I figured he’d drop me off faster which meant I could go faster too. So I knew we’d be coming from behind in the final, but it was possible.
GB were flying out of the gate. They were up by nearly a full second, but no panic, we expected that. Erin nailed her lap again, Michael ripped through the middle like a jet, and I could feel the speed building before I even hit the line. When I took over, I just emptied the tank. I couldn’t see them, so I had absolutely no idea where we were. All I could do was give it everything and hope it was enough. I gave it everything I had, the legs were screaming, crowd going mad. Coming into the line, I threw everything I had, probably the best throw of my life.
I looked up at the board and at first thought we’d dead tied it, which would’ve been crazy enough, but then I realised we’d actually won by 0.02. From a full second down to gold. You couldn’t write it better.
Winning as a team makes it special. We don’t train together, we just show up, trust each other, and send it. To pull that off under pressure shows how strong this squad really is, and I honestly think it’s just the start of what we can do.
This event has so much potential. We’ve shown what’s possible when we come together, even with limited prep. If we can put some real time and structure into developing it, I genuinely believe it could be another medal opportunity heading into LA. It’s an incredible event with so much upside, and with the right backing, we can build something really special heading towards Brisbane 2032.
Kane Perris:
18 months ago, this track took everything from us after a heavy crash. This year, we came back on a mission for redemption and today we’re celebrating a team sprint world record and world championship, and silver in both the time trial and sprint.
So many incredible reflections to be had over the coming weeks, so grateful to have this opportunity to compete at the highest level and to come away with three podiums this week is truly special.
Big shoutout to my front man man Luke Zaccaria who makes my sport possible and to Shane Perkins for his unwavering support.
Medals won
🥇 Gold
- Gordon Allan, Michael Shippley, Erin Rowell & Korey Boddington − Mixed C1−5 Team Sprint
- Jess Gallagher / Jacqui Mengler-Mohr & Kane Perris / Luke Zaccaria − Tandem Team Sprint (WR 49.288)
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie − C1 Women Sprint
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie − C1 Women Scratch Race
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie − C1 Women 1km Time Trial (WR 1:25.366)
- Tahlia Clayton-Goodie − C1 Women Elimination
- Tara Neyland − C4 Women Elimination
- Tara Neyland − C4 Women 1km Time Trial (WR 1:10.806)
- Tara Neyland − C4 Women Scratch Race
- Korey Boddington − C3 Men Sprint (WR 10.581)
- Korey Boddington − C3 Men 1km Time Trial (WR 1:02.848)
- Korey Boddington − C3 Men Elimination
- Emily Petricola − C3 Women Scratch Race
- Emily Petricola − C3 Women 1km Time Trial (WR 1:14.1630)
- Emily Petricola − C3 Women Elimination
- Erin Rowell − C4 Women Sprint
🥈 Silver
- Kane Perris / Luke Zaccaria − Tandem B Men 1km Time Trial
- Gordon Allan − C2 Men Sprint
- Jess Gallagher / Jacqui Mengler-Mohr − Tandem B Women Sprint
- Kane Perris / Luke Zaccaria − Tandem B Men Sprint
🥉 Bronze
- Erin Rowell − C4 Women Elimination
- Michael Shippley − C4 Men Sprint
- Jess Gallagher / Jacqui Mengler-Mohr − Tandem B Women 1km Time Trial
- Gordon Allan − C2 Men 1km Time Trial
- Emily Petricola − C3 Women Sprint
Feature picture: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com