Scotland’s Katie Archibald added Commonwealth champion to her long list of accolades on this day in 2018.

Archibald, an Olympic, world and European champion in various disciplines, took gold in the women’s individual pursuit in Brisbane, having broken the Games record in a blistering qualifying session.

Her only previous Commonwealth medal was the bronze she won on home soil in the points race in Glasgow four years earlier.

Archibald, then aged 24, said before racing began gold was the only colour she wanted and swiftly delivered, covering the 3,000m distance in three minutes 26.088 seconds to beat Australian Rebecca Wiasak.

She had set the record at 3:24.119 in a qualifying session which saw three riders go under the previous record set by England’s Joanna Rowsell Shand in Glasgow.

“It means a lot, especially in the individual pursuit because it’s not an Olympic event,” said Archibald. “2014 always stands out as a big year for Joanna Rowsell to kind of echo, because she had the title and the Games record.

“You look at the success she carried from that point in her career. I’d be very proud.”

Fired up by his sister’s performance, Archibald’s brother John then added another medal to Scotland’s tally with silver in the men’s 4,000m individual pursuit as England’s Charlie Tanfield clinched gold.

“I watched her heat run and the pressure was on her,” said John Archibald.

“The Commonwealth Games record went and they all went better than her personal best so she had her back against the wall but she pulled out and delivered on the day and that got me going.”

Sir Chris Hoy believes Katie Archibald is on track for next summer’s Paris Olympics after seeing her storm to overall victory in the UCI Track Champions League.

Two-time Olympic champion Archibald admitted she was far from her best at the World Championships in Glasgow in August, when the intense spotlight of a home worlds came as she was still coming to terms with the tragic loss of her partner Rab Wardell 12 months earlier.

But just a few months later, the 29-year-old Scot showed her class to win the Champions League crown for a second time, wrapping up her victory during the final two rounds in London at the weekend.

“It’s incredibly impressive,” Hoy told the PA news agency. “We’re starting to see that spark coming back, the smile, the enjoyment of the racing. Just life coming back into her after what was an incredibly difficult year.

“She wasn’t at her best at the world championships and I think this is a significant step forward from the worlds and it really does bode well for what is a massively important year for her and for the team.

“And they need her. The team really does rely on a few big-name individuals, not to carry the team but to inspire the team.

“When the big names are firing and on form it lifts everyone else, so she’s absolutely central to the British Cycling campaign and it’s looking good.

“I think she’s definitely getting better and getting to where she needs to be.”

The made-for-TV Champions League, which has just completed its third season, sees endurance riders like Archibald compete in two races per round, the scratch race and the elimination.

It is a long way from the team pursuit and the Madison that Archibald will aim for in Paris, and comprises only two of the four elements of the omnium, but it will be a significant confidence booster all the same.

“This is not a direct comparison to those events but it almost doesn’t matter,” added Hoy, who is an ambassador for the Champions League.

“It’s about how she’s responding to the competition and getting inspired by the crowd and just starting to bring back that spark and getting her life back on track after what she’s been through.

“As a rider you want to use the event in the right way. I would want to come in and see it as an opportunity to learn about my rivals, see them in some different situations and try different tactics.

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“If it doesn’t work out it’s not the end of the world, you’ve not missed out on a world title or an Olympic medal, but having said that the overall Champions League jersey and trophy is a massive thing now, it’s being recognised.”

Although star names like Archibald and Dutch sprinter Harrie Lavreysen drew the crowds, this season saw arguably the weakest field yet contest the Champions League with several riders preferring to focus their training elsewhere as the clock ticks down to Paris.

However, Hoy said he believed the still young series – which aims to elevate the profile of track cycling beyond the Olympics and annual world championships – is developing well.

“I think it’s pretty close to what I hoped it would be,” he said. “I think they’ve delivered exactly what they promised and probably more.

“This year it’s been a challenge with it being an Olympic year but the organisers aren’t trying to hide that, and I think next year there will be a rebound when, post-Olympics, riders are freed of the pressure and stress of an Olympic year and they want to go out and ride their bikes and have fun.”

Katie Archibald “struggled with the pressure” after narrowly missing out on a medal in the women’s omnium to close the track events at the UCI Cycling World Championships.

Archibald came into the worlds on home turf in Glasgow still grieving her late partner Rab Wardell, who died suddenly at home last year, and had spoken of her desire to honour his memory in competition this week.

She did that and more as she helped Britain to women’s team pursuit gold at the weekend, and she then delivered an attacking performance in the points race to round out the omnium but was narrowly denied bronze by Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky as American Jennifer Valente successfully defended her title.

The two-time Olympic champion left nothing in reserve in the deciding points race, but had left herself with too much to do after mistakes in the tempo and elimination races midway through the competition, starting the final event down in eighth and hauling herself up to fourth.

“It’s nice to at least finish on a race where I feel like I’ve given it my all,” the 29-year-old said. “I’ve had this anxiety building since May, really, feeling like you’re going to be trotted out for slaughter. I thought once I got racing that maybe it would be OK.

“But the scratch race didn’t go to plan, the tempo went so far from what I wanted it, then I made a massive mistake in the elimination race – a passive mistake, which is more frustrating.

“I came off so low after the elimination but the pressure was gone then. I was at the bottom of the pack. I’ve struggled with the pressure.”

Having left herself with work to do, Archibald began the points race in determined fashion, launching her first big attack 15 laps into the race and needing only five laps to catch the back of the pack, picking up 20 points to vault into medal contention.

She launched another big move with 31 laps to go but this time dragged Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen and Kopecky with her, keeping both of them ahead in the standings behind Valente.

Archibald tried another big attack going into the final sprint but Kopecky came around her before the line to take the bronze medal with 133 points to Archibald’s 127.

British Cycling performance director Stephen Park said: “Katie’s shown an incredible resilience. She’s had an incredibly tough year.

“For those of us who have found ourselves in those situations at different times, you know, just getting through the day and getting on with it again tomorrow is tough.

“I’m pleased that she’s felt the team and her team-mates have been able to help her with that feeling of family, love and support.

“But we so admire the resilience that she’s shown to get up every day, get back on the bike, get back into training and be in a position to turn up here, really get out and deliver her best – and to honour her former partner Rab – while recognising the support and love she’s had from across the country.

“This is just one step as she continues to grow, as she continues to grieve – and hopefully she continues towards Paris and LA. She’s a stand-out character, stand-out performer with some great team-mates around her.”

Katie Archibald inspired Great Britain to an emotional women’s team pursuit victory at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow on Saturday night.

Archibald joined up with Elinor Barker, Josie Knight and Anna Morris to beat New Zealand to gold in a time of four minutes 8.771 seconds, four and a half seconds up on their rivals, to give Britain a first world title in this event since 2014.

It was a fifth world title for Archibald, but perhaps the most significant. She has come into these championships, in her home velodrome, still grieving the death of her partner Rab Wardell, who suffered a cardiac arrest as he lay in bed at home a year ago.

Archibald had said she was determined to honour Wardell this week, and she surely did so with a powerful ride that belied a difficult build-up and helped make the difference in the final.

New Zealand were ahead on the time splits for much of the opening 1,500 metres, but a big turn from Knight nudged Britain in front before the midway point.

Archibald then put on the power to open up a two-second advantage before pulling off with a kilometre still to go, the result all but beyond doubt.

Archibald and Barker were both part of the team when Britain last won the women’s team pursuit world title nine years ago. They went on to Olympic glory in Rio before taking silver in Tokyo, but the rainbow jerseys in this flagship event eluded them.

“It is all coming out, this is the event,” Archibald said on BBC Sport. “Someone was talking about imposter syndrome the other day and you almost have it the other way round, we almost see ourselves as the best in the world.

“But we have not been on the top step since 2014, so to have that feeling validated, it feels good!”

Knight, who is Archibald’s housemate in Manchester, called her friend “phenomenal”.

“I see her ups and downs every day,” she said. “She’s had a really tough couple of weeks. I know her prep hasn’t been quite what she would have wanted. Usually she’s the real hero of this team. We’ve had to adapt and I’ve tried to step up, take that role on.

“But she is phenomenal. We all stepped up. And we’re world champions.”

Barker, who has shared so many moments with Archibald including Olympic gold in Rio, added: “Katie’s unbelievable. It’s really hard to summarise the year that she has had, how she feels about it, how we feel about it.

“Just the fact that she is here, it’s insane. I don’t really know how she does it to be honest.”

This is Barker’s first global track event since she became a mother after the last Olympics, and an extra special one as she was able to share the moment with sister Meg – who rode in Saturday morning’s first round – and Morris, who was in the same year as her at Llanishen High School in Cardiff.

Meg Barker had ridden the opening qualifier in place of Archibald, who is saving some of her energies for Sunday’s elimination race and the omnium in the coming days, a change to the original plan – with Elinor Barker now joining Neah Evans in Monday’s Madison.

In the men’s team pursuit, Denmark beat Italy to take the world title in a time of three minutes 45.161 seconds, two years to the day since Italy beat Denmark to gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

There were more gold medals for Britain’s para-cyclists. Sam Ruddock successfully defended his men’s C1 kilo title before Blaine Hunt took the C5 crown, with Jaco van Gass then beating team-mate Fin Graham to win the men’s C3 scratch race and his second rainbow jersey in as many days.

Katie Archibald and Great Britain celebrated an emotional women’s team pursuit win in Glasgow at the UCI Cycling World Championships on Saturday night.

Archibald joined up with Elinor Barker, Josie Knight, and Anna Morris to beat New Zealand to gold in a time of four minutes 8.771 seconds, more than four seconds up on their rivals, to give Britain a first world title in this event since 2014.

It was a fifth world title for Archibald, and a hugely poignant one as she races at these championships in her native Scotland to honour her late partner Rab Wardell, who tragically died of a cardiac arrest as he lay in bed last August.

New Zealand were ahead on the time splits for much of the opening 1,500 metres, but a big turn from Knight nudged Britain in front before the midway point.

Archibald then put on the power to open up a two-second advantage before pulling off with a kilometre still to go, the result all but beyond doubt.

Archibald and Barker were both part of the team when Britain last won the women’s team pursuit world title nine years ago, going on to enjoy Olympic glory in Rio before taking silver in Tokyo.

This is Barker’s first global track event since she became a mother after the last Olympics.

Britain had topped the time sheets in all three rounds of this event, having subbed in Elinor’s sister Meg Barker in place of Archibald for Saturday morning’s first round.

Archibald is saving herself for the elimination race and omnium in the coming days, a change to the original plan with Elinor Barker now joining Neah Evans in Monday’s Madison.

In the men’s team pursuit, Denmark beat Italy to take the world title in a time of three minutes 45.161 seconds, two years to the day since Italy beat Denmark to gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

There were more gold medals for Britain’s para-cyclists. Sam Ruddock successfully defended his men’s C1 kilo title before Blaine Hunt took the C5 crown, with Jaco van Gass then beating team-mate Fin Graham to win the men’s C3 scratch race and his second rainbow jersey in as many days.

Although Ruddock went in as defending champion, the 33-year-old called his title a surprise given his recent focus on the individual pursuit, in which he finished fourth on Thursday.

“Madness,” Ruddock said. “I didn’t expect it at all. We’ve done a lot of work around pursuits in the previous year so the target was to get a bronze medal ride off and we achieved that.

“The kilo was the secondary event so to go faster in the kilo and defend the title was a massive surprise.”