Cure leads Games pack at Christmas Carnivals
TASMANIAN cycling star Amy Cure rode her way into the history books in 2017 and is aiming to end the year with a flourish in her home state at the Christmas Carnivals.
The dual Olympian, who became the first person to win medals in six different world track events this year, is hoping to use the carnivals as a stepping stone on the way to earning selection for next year’s Commonwealth Games.
The Christmas Carnivals will take in Ulverstone, Latrobe, Launceston, Devonport, Burnie, and Hobart from today to January 7. They combine world-class and local runners, cyclists, and woodchoppers.
Cure races in her home town carnivals almost every year and is hoping to use this year’s races to build towards peak fitness.
She will compete in all the criteriums and the carnivals, and is looking forward to a solid block of racing in her home state.
“After September I had quite a long break, and then I came back into it in October, but I got a bit sick and then I didn’t really start fully training until November,” Cure said.
“I had a bit longer off than anticipated, so it’s been good to get back into it.
“Consecutive days racing after each other is always really good to get my fitness level back up to where I need to be to compete at these big races later on.”
As they are handicap events, athletes cannot qualify for the Gold Coast Common- wealth Games in April directly from the carnivals.
“I’m looking forward to the carnivals to take that next level in my fitness to get on the track where I need to be to be at the Commonwealth Games racing,” Cure said.
The Christmas Carnivals began at Rosebery on December 16, but the showpiece events begin tonight at the Ulverstone criterium festival.
The series then travels across the north of the state, with events held every day until January 1. After a week off, the series heads to Hobart on January 7 and ends at St Helens on January 20.
Christmas Carnivals promoter Richard Welsh, who also manages the athletics action, said with athletics trials for the Commonwealth Games looming, the competitors would not be holding back.
“While we’ve had Australia’s top runners in the past coming down, they’ve typically been in the middle of their off season training,” he said.
“Now they’ll be coming in much better shape, looking to make the team for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April.
Along with Cure, big names to compete in the cycling include Sam Welsford, who will be returning to try and win his third Burnie Wheel in a row, and duel Australian criterium champion Steele Van Hoff.
Runners to look out for in- clude Tasmanian sprinting sensation Jack Hale, rising Australian 400m runner Morgan Mitchell, and King Island distance runner Stewart McSweyn, who represented Australia at the World Championships in London this year.
Four world titles will be contested in the woodchopping, and more than $30,000 in prizemoney has attracted nearly 40 men and more than 20 women from around the world to compete.