Anna Morris breaks world record twice to claim individual pursuit European title

Not once, but twice Anna Morris broke the world record on Saturday evening as she won the individual pursuit gold medal at the European Track Championships.

The Brit, already world champion in the event, won by a staggering eight seconds in her final against Italy’s Vittoria Guazzini. Her time of 4:25.874 marked a new world record in the 4,000m discipline, shaving almost three seconds off the 4:28.306 she set in qualifying, which also beat the previous benchmark.

“Someone told me that my world record was the first world record to be achieved on this track, so I think this track will always be really special to me,” Morris said after the race in Heusden Zolder, Belgium.

This year, the distance of the women’s individual pursuit has been increased from 3,000m to 4,000m, bringing it level with the men. The previous world record belonged to New Zealand’s Bryony Botha, who clocked 4:30.752 at the Oceania Championships earlier this week.

Morris won over 3,000m at the UCI World Championships last October, meaning she now holds both the world and European individual pursuit titles.

“The final was really tough,” the 29-year-old said of her most recent success. “It’s the first time for us going the 4km for the women’s, so to back it up twice in a day was going to be tough. I just tried to dig really deep, and to be able to see Vittoria Guazzini in the same straight really helped me towards the end of the race.

“It’s the first time I’ve won a European title as an individual. We won the team pursuit in 2023, so to come as an individual is really special, and the world record is super special.”

Morris's gold medal is one of two Great Britain have earned so far at this week’s European Championships, the other coming in the men’s individual pursuit, courtesy of Josh Charlton.

Charlton led his final against Portugal’s Ivo Oliveira from the start on Friday evening, winning by 0.749 seconds with a time of 4:02.882. Like Morris, Charlton also boasts holding a world record in the 4,000m event, although his stood for six hours before it was beaten again at last year’s World Championships.

British riders have currently claimed 10 medals in total at the Europeean Championships, which concludes this afternoon.