Australian Wiasak retains pursuit world title

Rebecca Wiasak of Australia reacts after winning gold in the Women's Individual Pursuit final at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London, Britain, March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Matthew Childs

LONDON (Reuters) - Australia's Rebecca Wiasak overwhelmed Poland's Malgorzata Wojtyra to retain her individual pursuit title in the world track championships at London's velodrome on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old was never threatened, leading the 3,000m event from start to finish as she claimed the first gold medal of the event, nearly eight seconds ahead of Wojtyra.

Spain's Mora Vedri won the 15km scratch race, 60 laps of the track, ahead Ignacio Prado of Mexico and Switzerland's Claudio Imhof.

New Zealand face the Netherlands in the men's team sprint final later while in the women's event China ride against Russia.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)