CYCLING:David O'Loughlin secured a place in the forthcoming world track championships with an excellent fifth place in the pursuit race at the Los Angeles track World Cup over the weekend.

The Navigators Insurance pro may have been only concentrating on the 4,000 metre discipline for five months but has shown strong ability in the velodrome, fuelling hopes he can secure Olympic qualification.

He was fifth fastest in the qualifying on Friday, finishing 2.44 seconds off the fastest time but just 0.44 away from a place in the fight-offs for medals. Had he made it through to the bronze medal final and replicated his four minutes 31.84 qualifying effort, this would have been fast enough to secure the prize.

Indeed only the final winner, Vitaliy Popkov (Ukraine), went quicker in the finals, netting gold in four minutes 31.519.

In December, O'Loughlin finished eighth in the Moscow World Cup and these two results combine to earn him a place in the world championships, to be held in Palma de Majorca from March 29th until April 1st.

The Mayo rider also fared well in the points race this weekend, placing second in his heat and sixth in the final. In just over a month's time he and several other Irish riders are expected to line out in the Manchester World Cup, which runs from February 23rd-25th.

Meanwhile, Jenny Fay finished eighth on the final leg of the UniSA Women's Criterium Series in Australia, ending the three-race contest 12th overall. The race was run on points and the Orwell-Dundrum SC rider would have finished higher had she not crashed on day one.