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Leahy's fourth title in a row continues his reign of dominance in the elite men’s individual pursuit (IP) after the West Australian outlasted a gallant performance from Queenslander James Moriarty in the gold medal final.
Leahy won gold with yet another sub-4:10 performance, stopping the clock at 4:09.916 to Moriarty’s 4:14.239.
“I’m really happy to go four in a row,” Leahy said.
“I put a bit of pressure on myself this year and it feels like a relief to get it done.
“But just really excited for everyone this week, I think it’s going to be exciting for all the races.”
The 23-year-old remains the only Australian in history to record a sub-4:10 time for the 4000m IP, although Moriarty went close to joining the club in qualifying, recording a 4:10.616 to top the session and sending a scare to Leahy.
“I knew James and a few other boys would be around that mark but when you see it on the scoreboard, the time you’re planning to do before you ride, it’s always a bit surprising,” Leahy said.
“I did that last year and for James to do that this year is great.
“Really proud of him and good to see a whole range of us stepping up and getting really tight at the top.
“I knew I had a lot of work to do to get over him and I really backed myself in my warm-up and just left it all on the track because I know what I can do – but it was definitely a surprise to not qualify first.”
Leahy’s relief was also spurred on by a suboptimal summer of cycling campaign on the road which naturally flowed into his subsequent preparation for TrackNats - a preparation he labeled as “different.”
“In 2022, I came in with some good form off the end of the summer but this year I’ve just had a bit of a disrupted prep – I got COVID and things like that. I think for where I’m at right now it’s about right,” Leahy said.
“I’ve been focusing a lot on the team pursuit in trying to push my way into the Paris 2024 squad.
“There’s a lot of us going for those spots and it’s been a big focus of mine, but it was still good to snip under 4:10, and I know there’s a lot in the tank for the future.”
Leahy was almost more buoyed by the fast performances of his peers than his own at the end of the night, despite knowing those same men will be some of his biggest rivals for Olympics selection over the next 18 months.
“We all push each other, and we all want each other to go well and as I said, when I see those boys going fast it excites me,” Leahy said.
“I’m just so stoked for them because if they’re going fast, it means Australia is going fast and at the end of the day that’s what we all want.”
South Australian Oliver Bleddyn finished third.
Sophie Edwards fights off surprise challenge to win elite women's IP
Sophie Edwards locked down the first individual pursuit national title of her career on the first night of 2023 TrackNats, edging out Australian Capital Territory surprise packet Claudia Marcks in the gold medal final.
Edwards shaved off just over a second from her qualifying time earlier in the day to snatch victory, finishing her 3000m pursuit in 3:32.458 to Marcks’ 3:34.030.
The South Australian said she was delighted with her processes throughout the whole day to claim her fourth elite track national championship.
“I’m really happy I was able to refocus and go even faster in the final, which was my goal after stepping off the track after qualifying,” Edwards said.
“It was nice to see I had the legs to back it up.
“The IP is something I’m definitely working on, there’s a lot of things that have to come together to get a good result, from your aerodynamic drag to your fitness, to really nailing the specificity of efforts you do in the lead-up.
“So, I think for the first race of TrackNats, of what is going to be a really long block of three weeks with Oceanias and then the road racing too, makes it a happy way to start and I’ll see where I can take it from here.”
Edwards’ summer of cycling was one of the heaviest road racing blocks she has had in her young career, and learning to balance that with the boards is something that she feels she is starting to work out.
Perfecting that balance is still the main challenge, as Edwards touched on post-race.
“Look, I haven’t got the track legs that I will want come Worlds in August but I’m really happy with where I am at this point in time within of a mixed prep I’ve had lately,” Edwards said.
“I had quite a short and sweet track block coming off of the road racing in January. It was literally only a week and a half on the track before Jakarta (UCI Track Nations Cup) three weeks ago.”
Western Australian Isla Carr rounded out the elite women’s IP podium with bronze.
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Watch all the night session action from the 2023 Auscycling Track Cycling National Championships on SBS On Demand.
