Individual Pursuit (3,000 metres), Women

The 2000 gold medalist, Netherlands’ Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel, had been World Champion in this event in 2001-03. But early in 2004, the World Championship was won by New Zealand’s Sarah Ulmer, who broke Zijlaard-van Moorsel’s world record in the process. At the Worlds, held in Melbourne, Ulmer had defeated Australia’s Katie Mactier in the final. In qualifying in Athina, Ulmer placed first with Mactier second and Zijlaard-van Moorsel third, all three bettering the previous world record. But Ulmer’s time was 3:26.400 on the fast Athina track, leading Mactier by the huge margin of over 3½ seconds. Ulmer dominated the event throughout. In her first round race, she came close to overtaking Russian Olga Slyusareva, and in the final defeated Mactier again, this time by over three seconds with another world record of 3:24.537. Van Moorsel finished third in the last competitive race of her career.