Down, but not out. ARA Australian Cycling Team's James Moriarty has stated his bronze medal final defeat will be fuel for the fire when the next opportunity arises.
The Queenslander, who had already won team pursuit silver a day prior and set a new national record in qualifying, pushed himself to the limit in the 4000-metre individual pursuit medal final in vain against United States' Anders Johnson.
Johnson started fast, opening up a lead of nearly two seconds after the first kilometre.
Moriarty would turn marginally faster times from lap four to lap 12, closing the American's gap to one second as both began their final kilometre.
Having withstood the Brisbane 24-year-old's charge, the race pendulum and faster lap times swung back towards Johnson for the final four laps, and when the clock stopped, Johnson's time of 4:08.699 bettered Moriarty's 4:11.113 by 2.414 seconds.
After only narrowly missing out on qualifying for the gold medal final, Moriarty said preparing for the evening session at Velódromo Peñalolén was a challenge.
"It’s always tough to prepare your mind to race for bronze but I took a lot of confidence from qualifying and brought it back to process and execution," he said.
"The environmental conditions have been quick but the track has been tough to ride. Equally, Anders rode 4:03 at US nationals earlier this year, so I went in confident in my plan but with respect to the track and the competition.
"As I’ve pushed my PB at each milestone, it’s always tough to back up after taking a step forward, but these are the moments that stay in the legs forever and allow you to keep moving forward. So, while the finals ride didn’t pan out in my favour tonight, I’ll be better next time for having put up a fight today."
Moriarty sliced a whopping 1.412 seconds off of Conor Leahy's old national record when he posted his qualifying time of 4:05.944, continuing on a positive individual pursuit battle between good friends and teammates that has raged on for several years.
Leahy, who finished a brave sixth in the points race earlier in the night, was on the infield supporting and congratulating Moriarty.
"Conor has really been driving the IP in Australia since I moved into elites, so he’s been someone I look up to and am lucky to be good mates with now," Moriarty said.
"He was the last person to send me off today and the first to congratulate me after the ride. It means a lot to have that respect and support from your teammates, especially at a competition like this, where we come together for the TP but are constantly looking to push each other further.
"But yes, I’ve been eyeing that record off since it was 4:10 and I’m very proud that it’s sitting next to my name for now. Naturally, I’m already looking to lower it, but I’m sure it’ll sink in over the next couple of days."
Elsewhere on the third day of the program, prodigious young talent Tayte Ryan ticked off his Track Worlds debut in the 1km Time Trial with a new personal best of 59.304 from qualifying, which seeded him fourth among the world's best.
In the final, the 19-year-old from Adelaide powered to a 59.629 showing to finish fifth.
"I’m really pleased with today. Was gunning for a top-8 finish and I’m super happy to tick that off," Ryan said.
"Took a big chunk of time out of my personal best as well so that was really nice to show my progression since last year.
"Pretty challenging to back up two full gas rides but super happy to pull off two sub minute rides in a day. Really happy with today!"
Results
Men Individual Pursuit - Gold Medal Final
🥇 Josh Charlton - 4:04.122 (Great Britain)
🥈 Rasmus Pedersen - 4:07.496 (Denmark)
Men Individual Pursuit - Bronze Medal Final
🥉 Anders Johnson - 4:08.699 (United States)
4️⃣ James Moriarty - 4:11.113 (Australia)
Feature picture: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com