Courtney cycles to gold

Berwick’s Courtney Field with her gold medal from the Australian Junior Track Cycling Championships. 44856 Picture: Stewart Chambers

By Ben Hope
RIDING against older girls didn’t stop Berwick resident Courtney Field from winning gold at the Australian Junior Track Cycling Championships.
In her first national track championships the 12-year-old took first place in the women’s under-15 sprint event at the Darebin International Sports Centre (DISC) velodrome.
“Most of the girls in the under-15 category were 13 or 14, so some of them were a bit bigger and taller than me,” she said.
“I’m really happy with my results – the competition at the national level was a lot harder than the state championships.”
Courtney out-rode Tasmanian champion of champions Macey Stewart in the sprint event to pick up her first national gold medal.
“It was a tough race,” she said.
“At the end the result was pretty close and I only won by a wheel length. It was a great feeling to get a gold medal.”
Teams from all over Australia were in Melbourne for the three-day event.
Courtney also came fifth in the 500-metre time trial and seventh in the individual pursuit qualification.
“I love both long and short distances, but I have been working more on my sprints this year so it was good to see a result in the sprint race,” she said.
“I pulled out of the scratch race because it was right after the sprint event and I was feeling a bit tired.”
The Victorian team also took the Ray Godkin Shield from New South Wales after finishing well ahead of the other states with ten gold, six silver and four bronze medals.
The Beacon Hills College student was first introduced to cycling a year and a half ago while competing in a human-powered vehicle (HPV) competition.
“While I was doing HPV, I started riding as a way to keep fit,” she said.
“I went to the HPV state championships as a novice, but it was easy to make the switch to cycling because I began to enjoy riding a lot more.”
Courtney will now have three weeks rest before she begins training for the road-racing season.
“This will be my second year racing in roads event and I am looking forward to it after I did okay in the state championships last year,” she said.