Kerry Teenager Carries Irish Hopes in Junior World Track Championships
Josie Knight is Ireland's sole competitor in this week's Junior World Track Championships in Kazakhstan.
The Kerry teenager takes to the boards at the Saryarka track in Astana on Friday in her specialist event, the Junior Individual Pursuit.
Knight then begins the Junior Omnium competition on Saturday morning followed by the Scratch Race before completing her six-race Omnium programme on Sunday, the final day of competition at the event.
Having won the silver medal in the Individual Pursuit at the European Junior Championships in Portugal last season as a first year junior, Knight will be looking forward to building on that performance in Astana.
Since then the 18-year-old has been integrated into the Irish senior team pursuit squad and acquitted herself well riding as an Under-23 at the recent European Track Championships in Greece.
Reverting to junior once again for the World Championships, Knight will be looking forward to Friday's pursuit qualifiers over two kilometres.
High Performance Coach Brian Nugent believes that, given the right conditions, Knight can produce another world class performance.
“Josie is in good form and looking forward to the week. She's targeting at top five performance in the pursuit where she'll be up against the very best competitors from the top pursuiting nations in the world.
"It's a big ask but Josie is looking forward to Friday and her performance in a higher age group at the European Championships in Athens last Month suggests that her development is continuing at the right rate.
"After the Pursuit, the Scratch and Omnium events offer Josie more invaluable bunch racing experience at international level. It's key that she acquires skills and experience at this level at an early age."
For full results see the event website: http://velotrek.kz/eng/velotrek/o_velotreke/
and the Official UCI Website:
World Junior Track Championships, Sarykara, Astana
Josie Knight
Friday 21st August - Individual Pursuit Qualification beginning 8.45am Irish Time
Saturday 22nd August - Omnium Races i, ii and iii beginning 4.30am
Saturday 22nd August - Scratch Race Qualification 9.35am
Sunday 23rd August - Omnium Races iv, v and vi beginning 6.30am
All times are Irish time and approximate