News
Tom Sexton has delivered New Zealand's first medal of the 2026 UCI World Track Cycling Championships — silver in the men's 10km Scratch race in Shanghai, China.
The 27-year-old Southlander positioned himself well in the bunch, timing his final sprint to finish second behind Great Britain's Mathew Bostock, who had pushed clear of the field.
"This event is always pretty exciting - a bit like a drawn-out keirin for endurance riders," Sexton said. "I put myself in the race and gave it a good nudge in the end. Unfortunately, my former pro teammate Mathew Bostock was off the front so I pushed on for the medal which was pretty incredible."
It is the second time Sexton has podiumed in this event at the world championships, putting him alongside Greg Henderson as the only two-time medallists for New Zealand in the Scratch race at worlds.
Sexton, usually part of the team pursuit campaign, has been selected for key individual events in Shanghai.
"It is a different programme for me at these world champs with the scratch and elimination races, so I put a lot of pressure on my shoulders today and it was cool to get out and test myself."
The New Zealand team pursuit combinations also raced on Friday, picking up qualifying points towards the Los Angeles Olympic Games despite finishing a fraction from the podium.
The women's combination of Samantha Donnelly, Bryony Botha, Prue Fowler and Emily Shearman finished fifth overall from 17 nations, edged by just 0.5 seconds in their first-round ride against Germany to decide the medal contenders.
The men's team pursuit of George Jackson, Keegan Hornblow, Marshall Erwood and Daniel Morton placed sixth from 18 nations after finishing less than a second from a medal ride.
The women's trio also finished sixth overall in the women's team sprint against 18 nations to secure solid Olympic qualifying points by their rejigged combination.
In individual sprint action, Ellesse Andrews led the way before being edged by team sprint winner Emma Finucane of Great Britain by 0.1 seconds in the second round. Fowler finished 13th in the women's scratch race.
Day three competition includes the women's omnium, men's individual pursuit, points race and time trial.