New Zealand Olympic stars were to the fore in the opening days of the national track cycling championships in Invercargill.

The sprinters led the way with Paris Olympic double gold medallist Ellesse Andrews beating teammate Olivia King 2-0 in the women’s elite sprint finals before edging King and Sami Donnelly in the final of the keirin.

Fellow Olympian Sam Dakin was dominant in the men’s sprint, accounting for Kaio Lart in two straight rides in the elite men’s sprint before edging Luke Blackwood and Jaxson Russell in the keirin final.

The most exciting final came in the women’s 4000m individual pursuit which was won by Te Awamutu rider McKenzie Milne over Canterbury’s Amelia Sykes.

After a fast start, Sykes took the lead at the 1000m mark and pushed to an advantage of three seconds before Milne made her charge in the final 1000m. She was still behind with one lap remaining but a final dash at the line saw her edge Sykes by 0.015s to win in 4:47:462 in an outstanding contest.

Paris Olympian Emily Shearman showed her class to win the women’s scratch race final from Milne and Syles, and claim the 20km Points race in impressive fashion. The Manawatu rider won seven of the eight sprints to finish on 37 points from Sykes on 22 points after winning the final double points sprint to edge Donnelly by a single point for second.

Shearman returned to beat off Donnelly and Sykes for the podium in the women’s elimination race.

There was a Southland clean-sweep on the men’s scratch race won by Magnus Jamieson from Mitchel Fitzsimons and Marshall Erwood.

The championships continue until the weekend.