Emily Kay has said her ride in the omnium at the UCI World Track Championships in Paris has provided her with a new marker in her career after last year's Olympic Games.
The Irish rider, who finished 13th in the omnium at the Olympics and saw her madison derailed after Shannon McCurley crashed, said the period after the Games was difficult, but she took encouragement from her ride at the Worlds.
She placed 12th in the 24-rider field in the four-event omnium, her best result coming in the tempo race where she finished in 4th place. While Kay is a very experienced international rider - including with Great Britain before declaring for Ireland - last evening's omnium in Paris was the first time she had competed in the Worlds in an individual event.
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“The day had some good bits and some bad bits," she said. "I had a frustrating scratch (race), I nearly got taken out of it in the last lap. I took a lap on the tempo, 10th in the elimination and then just a really hot points race. But it's a world class field so I'm happy with 12th in the world.
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"Off the back of the Olympics last year, I had a bit of a difficult time so I’m still finding back up. It’s a good marker, I don’t think that I’m too far off being more competitive so it’s a stepping stone in the right direction towards the Olympics.
In the opening event of the omnium, the scratch race, Kay place 17th followed by the tempo race where she was part of a five-rider breakaway group. She won two sprints as the group gained two laps and collected 34 points in that event.
In the elimination race she placed 10th and was 9th in the standings going into the last event, the points race. In that concluding event she finished 21st, not gaining any points, and finished the omnium in 12th place on a total of 64 points.
The world title was won by US rider, and Olympic champion, Jennifer Valente from Dutch woman Maike van der Duin with Maria Martins of Portugal taking bronze.
