By Hannah Blackwell
Anna Morris has admitted she was in shock after becoming Wales’ latest cycling world champion.
Morris, from Cardiff, followed in the bike tracks of Emma Finucane as she rode her way to a first world title in the women’s individual pursuit, knocking out cycling legend Chloe Dygert on the way, on the penultimate day of the 2024 UCI Tissot Track World Championships.
It means Wales now has two individual world champions and three members of a world champion team after the penultimate day of the Championships in Denmark.
Morris, 29, and Finucane are individual world champions whilst Morris, Meg Barker and Jess Roberts will also be coming home with team gold medals after winning the women’s team pursuit.
The ride of a lifetime from Anna Morris!
Your new individual pursuit world champion #Ballerup2024 pic.twitter.com/wOnKbla4jp
— Team GB (@TeamGB) October 19, 2024
Two world titles is an incredible achievement for Morris, who did not take up the sport until she was studying medicine at Southampton University.
“I’m in shock,” said Morris.
“I was just trying to ride for a PB really and see what I could do. To be world champion, I’m speechless.”
Morris lit up the evening for Great Britain, taking her first individual world championship medal; a world title no less, in a ferocious head-to-head against defending world champion Dygert.
In qualifying, Morris rode with her trademark calculation and control, leading from the off and setting a ferocious pace for her competitor, Maria Escalera (Spain), to follow.
Morris went ahead early, gaining on Escalera before eventually catching her with 625m to go and setting the fastest time at that point of qualifying (3:17.656) in the process.
Reigning world champion Dygert later delivered a blistering ride, breaking her own world record in a time of 3:15.663, securing her place in the gold medal race against Morris.
That was unreal!
Anna Morris with a sensational ride to defeat Chloe Dygert and claim the individual pursuit world title #Ballerup2024 pic.twitter.com/YdaVwZIHYe
— Team GB (@TeamGB) October 19, 2024
In the final, things were neck and neck for the first kilometre with just 0.2 seconds separating the pair.
As the race developed, Morris stayed composed while slowly chipping away at the gap between her and the American, with Dygert only 0.4 seconds ahead at the halfway point.
With three laps to go, Morris overturned her deficit to lead Dygert, with the margin only growing in the final two laps.
In an incredible finish, Morris beat the American by 0.447 seconds to take Great Britain’s first female individual pursuit title in a decade – having to check the scoreboard to confirm her feat.
Morris added: “I tried to settle into a slightly faster pace and I was getting good feedback from Cam Meyer, my coach on the trackside.
When you look up and realise you are UCI World Champion . Anna Morris, that was insane
GOLD in the Women Individual Pursuit at the 2024 Tissot UCI Track World Championships in Ballerup. #Ballerup2024 #TrackCycling pic.twitter.com/8xyG7ZqesD
— UCI Track Cycling (@UCI_Track) October 19, 2024
“He was giving me lap splits and as we were getting into the final kilo he was giving me positive feedback to tell me I was getting close to Chloé.
“I had all my GB teammates down the back straight and I could hear them screaming so I thought maybe, you’ve just got to dig deep here and give it all you’ve got and see where you end up.”
Barker delivered a good ride time of 3:24.066 over the 3km, which kept her in contention for a medal race until the penultimate qualifying heat, meaning she finished in sixth position overall.