New Delhi: Australia drew first blood in track cycling on Tuesday when reigning champion Anna Meares retained her title in the women's 500m time-trial with a new Commonwealth record.
Meares shaved more than half a second off her own best to cross the line in 33.758secs, beating compatriot Kaarle McCulloch by almost a second.
Becky James of Wales claimed the bronze medal in a field of 13 riders.
"I have improved a lot since Melbourne four years ago," three-time world champion Meares said.
"The track is very nice to ride but it is a tough one. You have to generate your own speed. It's smooth and grippy. It's a lot warmer than in training after we asked for the air conditioning to be turned down and that has improved the track speed."
Meares has dominated the discipline for a decade and won the 2004 Olympic gold medal in the last year the event was held before being dropped to make room for BMX.
She had been suffering from a serious back injury in the lead-up to the competition which had hampered her preparations.
McCulloch finished in 34.780 while James crossed in 35.236.
"Losing to Anna is no shame as she is a teammate of mine. A silver medal at the Commonwealth Games is pretty special."
Meares shaved more than half a second off her own best to cross the line in 33.758secs, beating compatriot Kaarle McCulloch by almost a second.
Becky James of Wales claimed the bronze medal in a field of 13 riders.
"The track is very nice to ride but it is a tough one. You have to generate your own speed. It's smooth and grippy. It's a lot warmer than in training after we asked for the air conditioning to be turned down and that has improved the track speed."
Advertisement
She had been suffering from a serious back injury in the lead-up to the competition which had hampered her preparations.
Advertisement
"Losing to Anna is no shame as she is a teammate of mine. A silver medal at the Commonwealth Games is pretty special."
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Delhi Commonwealth Games Dues Raised in UK Parliament CWG: India being too self-congratulatory? We're now ready for Olympics: Sheila Dikshit Israeli Jets Strike Yemen Rebels After Deadly Attack On Tel Aviv Woman On Scooter With 2 Kids Punched, Left Bleeding In Pune Road Rage Case The 'Fake' CrowdStrike Worker Who Took Credit For Biggest-Ever IT Outage At Least 20 Killed, Dozens Missing As Flash Floods Hit China: Report Hezbollah, Hamas Say Fired Rockets, Explosive-Laden Drones At Israel US Slams ICJ's Opinion On Israeli Occupation Of Palestinian Territories Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.