Carol Cooke and Stuart Jones claim medals on opening day of 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships

Australia has claimed silver and bronze in the T2 time trial on day one of the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Canada.

Carol Cooke claimed silver in the women's T2 time trial to add to her 14 medals since 2011, while Stuart Jones took bronze in the men's T2 time trial.

"I decided that today I was just going to concentrate on the process," the 61-year-old Cooke said.

"After last week's World Cup and not being on the podium, I was starting to wonder if my time of international racing was over, but not concentrating on the outcome helped today.

"Just worrying about what I was doing and my own race, to do the best I could was what was in my head.

"To come away with a silver medal was certainly the icing on the cake – so absolutely stoked."

‘That was all on instinct’: First WorldTour win for Alex Manly

Australian Cycling Team athlete Alexandra Manly has earned her first victory at pro cycling's top level.

The South Australian took out stage 4 of the Tour of Scandinavia overnight, outsprinting fellow Aussie Chloe Hosking from a late breakaway.

It’s Manly’s first win at UCI Women’s WorldTour level, adding to her haul of victories at the Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tourback in May.

Commonwealth Games: Clubs gold completes gymnast Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva’s Games set

Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva hopes her emotional Commonwealth Games gold medal will trigger conversation around the lack of funding for rhythmic gymnastics and inspire the next generation.

The Australian burst into tears when she won Saturday’s clubs final at Arena Birmingham, the breakthrough coming after bronze in the individual all-around final and team silver on day one of a relentless three-day program.

Fifth in the ball and ribbon finals completed her campaign, the 20-year-old now a five-time Games medallist after claiming team and ball bronze on the Gold Coast.

“The emotions just came out and they’re still coming out and every time I see this medal I’m probably going to cry,” Kiroi-Bogatyreva said of a tearful climax to three days of intense focus.

“Today was psychologically difficult; I just had to remind myself that I’m here because I want to be, have fun ... and I came away with the gold.”

Commonwealth Games: Rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva claims bronze as England makes history

Just a day after achieving a silver medal during the rhythmic gymnastics team event, Australia’s Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva has added a bronze medal to her collection.

The 20-year-old placed third in Friday’s individual all around final with a total score of 111.100 after performing four impressive routines.

Alex Manly crowned LOTTO Thüringen Ladies Tour 2022 winner in style with stage win number four

Team BikeExchange-Jayco’s Alex Manly wrapped up the 2022 LOTTO Thüringen Ladies Tour GC on Sunday in stunning style, taking her fourth stage victory of the week to confirm herself as the overall winner.

The Australian won the uphill drag race to the finish line in Altenburg after a day of full-on attacks in the peloton, to bring to a close a memorable race for both herself and the team, which won five of the six stages thanks to her four successes and a victory from Georgia Baker earlier in the week.

Manly also sealed the points classification, to put the finishing touches to an outstanding team effort that saw each rider play an important role throughout the six days.

TRAIN LIKE FREERIDE MOUNTAIN BIKER HARRIET BURBIDGE-SMITH

Harriet “Haz” Burbidge-Smith, 25, can’t remember a time when she did not ride a bike. She started racing BMX around the age of 4 in her hometown of Canberra, Australia, and hasn’t stopped since. “I was so pumped to be there every time,” she recalls. “I’ve always known that the bike is my happy place.” That kind of passion for riding helped propel Burbidge-Smith to eight Australian national championship titles in BMX and fueled Olympic dreams.

Alexandra back to her best at overseas World Cups

Such is her incredible level of dedication and commitment to becoming one of the world’s best rhythmic gymnasts, 20-year-old Melburnian and dual Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva has been training and competing away from home – mostly based in Baku, Azerbaijan – for the past 40 weeks.

When it comes to biking, Harriet Burbidge-Smith has everything covered

From winning titles as a BMX racer, to transitioning to mountain bike and helping to uplift pro women's riding, Harriet Burbidge-Smith might just be the future of her sport.

When it comes to ones to watch, few riders out there are as exciting as eight-time Australian BMX Champion and two-time amateur BMX World Champ winner Harriet Burbidge-Smith. At 25, she’s a double threat, having excelled in BMX racing before making the switch to mountain bike, which she says offers her more creativity, freedom and opportunities to stay stoked on her sport.

What’s more, Burbidge-Smith is a die-hard ambassador for women and girls in biking, running female-only training camps and never missing an opportunity to uplift her fellow female riders who are bringing the gnar.

How a late invite to Red Bull's Formation changed everything for Canberra mountain biker Harriet Burbidge-Smith

It was only meant to be a three-week trip to the United States.

But it turned into the best decision of Harriet Burbidge-Smith's mountain biking career, and has helped her tick off goal after goal.

KATE WALSH: ‘WE STILL BELIEVE IN THE GAME PLAN WE HAVE’

The Sunshine Coast Lightning has had a tough start to the season, with two losses, and two huge scores conceded. Kate Walsh has stepped into a key role in defence and believes the team is finding their way still. 

The Lightning started the 2022 season conceding 82 goals in each match. The first time they did so, it set the scoring record for Suncorp Super Netball. The second, they avoided breaking the record for a second week in a row, but that was the only saving grace.

West Coast Fever recruit Chelsea Pitman to line up for COVID-ravaged GWS Giants against Adelaide Thunderbirds

West Coast Fever recruit Chelsea Pitman will suit up for the COVID-ravished Giants for their clash with her former side Adelaide Thunderbirds on Sunday.

Pitman, a former Thunderbirds captain, was set to fly with Fever to Melbourne on Saturday ahead of their clash with Collingwood at John Cain Arena.

The English midcourter will instead head to Adelaide and represent the Giants as a temporary replacement player after six of their players were ruled out with COVID-19 and calls for the game to be postponed were controversially rejected by Super Netball.

Three-time Paralympic champion Cooke returns to action after serious crash at Tokyo 2020

Three-time Paralympic gold medallist Carol Cooke has returned to competitive cycling for the first time since being hospitalised by a serious crash at Tokyo 2020.

Australian Cooke entered the Games in the Japanese capital as the defending champion in the women's T1-2 time trial and road race.

She collected silver in the time trial at Tokyo 2020, but suffered a punctured lung during a heavy fall in the road race, which left her in hospital and unable to return home with the rest of the Australian team.

Crankworx goes full circle for Burbidge-Smith

For Harriett Burbidge-Smith, the season ended where it began way back in Innsbruck: on the top step of the podium.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Burbidge-Smith of starting and ending her season with dual slalom wins. “I thought that this morning, that it would be pretty cool to end it the same way. It’s pretty much how this year took off for me, and how it ended, so it’s cool.”

Alexandra delivers in international return

“IT was a very long and difficult journey, overcoming a lot of mental blocks and physical challenges … but I’ve come a long way!” is how 19-year-old Melburnian and 2018 dual Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Alexandra Kiroi-Bogatyreva describes her past three months.

Cooke still in Tokyo after Para crash

Australian cycling great Carol Cooke expects to be in Tokyo for another fortnight as she recovers from the punctured lung she suffered at the Paralympics.

The 60-year-old, a three-time Paralympics gold medallist, is out of hospital and staying at a Tokyo hotel.

She crashed during the T1-2 road race at the Games on September 2 and eventually had to pull out of the event.

Tokyo Paralympics: Carol Cooke caught up in nasty crash to end medal hopes in the T1-2 road race

Veteran Australian Paralympian Carol Cooke’s games have come to a heartbreaking end after she dramatically crashed out of the women’s T1-2 road race amid horrible conditions.

The 60 year-old, who sensationally won silver in the T1-2 time trial a few days earlier, suffered a devastating and nasty-looking crash in the first half of the 26km race.

Amidst howling rain and slippery road conditions, Cooke was behind Marie-Eve Croteau when the Canadian lost control of her bike.

The cyclist behind Croteau, Jane Majunke, hit the brakes, but Cooke was powerless to stop as her bike collided with Majunke’s bike and fell heavily, sliding sideways towards the fence.

Tokyo Paralympics: Australia’s 60-year-old Carol Cooke takes home cycling silver

Australia has won a 50th medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Carol Cooke — who turned 60 less than four weeks ago — brought up Australia’s half century when she took silver in the women’s T1-T2 time trial.

One of six Aussie road cyclists to win medals today, she became the second-oldest Australian women to get on the podium at the Paralympics.

Stopping the clock, Carol Cooke is a double gold medal hope in Tokyo after just turning 60

Time is the master of experienced athletes.

It controls training, it decides medals, and it sounds a gong on unwanted birthdays.

When the Tokyo Paralympics were rescheduled from 2020 to 2021, para-cyclist Carol Cooke figured out she'd be 60 by the time she raced.

Six-oh.

BMX world champion Des’ree Barnes on smashing gender stereotypes in sport

Women are reclaiming sports typically assumed to be the domain of men, and absolutely crushing the game. We speak to PUMA athlete, Barnes, about her experience.

Whether it’s your local soccer club competition, an adults’ ballet class or the world championships, your gender shouldn’t influence your choice of physical activity.

That’s something world champion BMX racer and PUMA athlete Des’ree Barnes knows well, especially as her experience in a male-dominated arena has only fuelled her success and performance.

Lauren Reynolds ready to smash her BMX competition at Tokyo

Five years ago, after the Rio Olympic Games, Australian BMX athlete Lauren Reynolds was at her lowest. 

“After Rio I felt completely unaccomplished,” says Reynolds.

“Even though I had been to two Olympic Games, I felt like I was going nowhere and nothing made sense.

“I didn’t feel like I deserved to be there and because I wasn’t competitive out there, I didn’t feel like I should be there.”

After Rio, on top of the personal pressure Reynolds placed on herself, there was external pressure too. Many thought that she didn’t have another Olympic Games in her – that she was too old and too slow.