 Illawarra's Rebecca Borgo recently won a World Junior Track Championship in cycling, much to the pleasure of her dad and Dragons Director John Borgo.
Young Borgo travelled to Moscow for the August World Championships and drew on the lessons of last year's titles to score a shock victory in the Keirin - the motorcycle-paced event that ends in an exciting sprint finish.
"Last year I rode the race from the back and could not get around so this year I decided I was going to ride every race from the front and I won the semi and the final," said the 18- year-old St Mary's Ladies College student.
John Borgo said he knew his daughter was gifted athletically but never imagined he'd be the father of a World Champion. "I'm extremely proud and very excited for her.
I always knew she had ability because she did well in the surf club, visual culture and athletics," he said. A winner of State age 100 and 200 metre footraces, Borgo took up cycling four years ago after heeding the advice of a PhD student.
As a guinea pig for an academic thesis, she produced outstanding results in the cycling component of a series of fitness tests.
Determined to retain an easy-going approach to life, the youngster completed half of her HSC subjects in 2003 and plans to complete the other half in 2004. But she'll have little or no time to study if she wins an Olympic berth at the National Titles at Dunk Gray Velodrome in April.
Hoping to qualify for the sprints and Keirin event, Borgo now knows to expect the unexpected. "There's three spots and four girls vying for it," said her dad, adding: "Six months ago they said she wasn't a chance but now they have changed their minds."
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St George Leagues Club
LEAGUES CLUB JOURNAL
