CYCLING: Up and coming cycling star Kelsey Robson, 17, will be aiming for gold in the team pursuit at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival this week.

Having won the team pursuit at the UCI Junior Track World Championships last year, the young West Australian is looking forward to competing with her fellow teammates again but is also using the experience to gain insight into her competition ahead of the 2013 Junior Worlds in Glasgow of which she is the reigning U19 individual pursuit champion.

"I am aiming for gold with my teammates in the team pursuit," Robson said.  "But the individual pursuit in the omnium will be something that I really want to post a good time in and see potentially what time I'm looking at for nationals."

From tennis to dancing, horse riding, swimming and athletics, Kelsey is certainly a talented sportswoman but her passion is for cycling.

The West Australian junior sports star of 2012 has been cycling both for fun and competitively since 2008 and claims to have caught the cycling bug.

"It’s such an addictive sport," she said. "Once you go for your first ride you just want to do more and know more about it."

Coached by Darryl Benson, the head coach at the Western Australian Institute of Sport, Robson trains sometimes up to four times a day six days a week but says it is all worth it.

"I love ripping around the boards on disc wheels hearing a cheering crowd spurring you on," she said. "It’s an awesome feeling."

While Robson feels privileged to be able to compete at the Youth Olympics, like many other athletes her ultimate goal is to represent her country at the Olympic Games in the near future.

"My goals for the future include winning more world titles at this year’s Junior Worlds at Glasgow and from there I would just like to progress as an athlete and hopefully be at the next Olympic Games in Rio."

Laura Judd
Olympics.com.au

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