Canada's Tara Whitten races in the individual pursuit event of the women's omnium at the Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, April 7, 2012.Andrew Brownbill/The Associated Press
Canada's Tara Whitten raced to fourth place in the omnium Saturday, finishing off the world championship podium in the event for the first time in her career.
The two-time world champion from Edmonton finished with 39 points over the six-discipline event, three points shy of a bronze medal.
"For sure, fourth is disappointing," Whitten said. "There were definitely some highs and lows today. I did a (personal best) in my individual pursuit,and I thought I might be on a bit of a comeback, but in the end, in the 500 (metre time trial), I couldn't quite do it.
"I'll have to go back, see if there are any changes I can make and learn from this in preparation for London."
The omnium will make its Olympic debut this summer in London.
Laura Trott of Britain claimed her second winner's rainbow jersey when she won the final event. Trott held off Annette Edmonson to win the omnium individual time trial and seal the title by three points ahead of the Australian. Sarah Hammer of the United States took the bronze.
Whitten, who said earlier this week that these world championships were not a priority in her preparation for London, was in sixth place after Day 1, but closed the gap with a win in the individual pursuit.
"Laura and Annette are new to the omnium and very strong riders, so it makes the field a little deeper, and makes the bunch races all that more important," Whitten said. "You can't just rely on a good pursuit to pull you through.
"My aerobic capacity was really strong, but my sprint was lacking a little bit. . . I think coming off the London Olympic test event in February, I didn't recover enough and get that speed back. It's not too hard to go back and get that for the Olympics."
Calgary's Monique Sullivan was 13th in the women's keirin.