Kristina Clonan (cycling) put on a sprint masterclass in the women’s 500m time trial at her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham, snatching victory by just 0.060 sec in a Games record 33.234 seconds. She was also 4th in team sprint with Breanna Hargrave and Alessia McCaig, 8th in keirin and reached the quarter-finals of the sprint.

The Queenslander announced herself as a world force in the lead-up to the Games when she won the 500m time trial at the Track Nations Cup in Canada in 32.911 secs – an Australian best at sea level and just outside Anna Meares’ national record.

Clonan, from the Sunshine Coast, won the Oceania road race title in 2015, then a bronze medal in the scratch race in the junior world championships, the national Madison title as well as the national criterium championship in 2018, the same year she moved to Adelaide to join the Australian Institute of Sport program.

However, after just missing selection for the Tokyo Olympics, she completed the unusual transition from road cycling and track endurance to track sprinting. The switch confirmed her new status, sweeping the sprint crowns (sprint, keirin, time trial) at the track nationals in 2020, 2021 and 2022. She retained her sprint title for the fourth consecutive year in 2023 before going on to win silver at the world championships in Glasgow.

Clonan has a degree in business from Griffith University, majoring in property development and real estate management.