Australia's team sprint world championship podium streak has been extended to four following an opening night bronze medal at the 2025 UCI Track World Championships in Santiago.
The trio of Ryan Elliott, Leigh Hoffman and Track Worlds debutant Danny Barber overcame France in a tightly contested race for bronze by 0.25 seconds, finishing in a time of 42.611.
The French hung with the Australians for all three laps of Velódromo Peñalolén and even led at the 500-metre mark by 0.012 seconds after a first lap deficit of 0.066.
Hoffman regained the lead for Australia as he swung off for third man Barber, who held his nerve and the wheels of Elliott and Hoffman on his Track Worlds debut to secure third.
Despite missing out on progressing to the gold medal final for the first time since 2021, Elliott said the team were happy with their day and optimistic about the young team's future.
"We didn’t really know what to expect in terms of our times," he said.
"In moments, we were probably hoping for a little more but at the end of the day you race for medals and we’re happy to come home with one.
Australia finished third, behind Great Britain and the Netherlands. Picture: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
"We’ve definitely had to be flexible over the last 12 months but I think we’ve found our core group at the moment.
"Especially with Tayte (Ryan) on standby today as reserve. We can definitely see him stepping in as an addition to the team not long from now."
Results - Men's Team Sprint
Gold medal final
🥇 Netherlands - 41.691
🥈 Great Britain - 42.060
Bronze medal final
🥉 Australia - 42.611
4️⃣ France - 42.861
Feature picture: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com