Australia’s Tayte Ryan is quickly establishing himself as rising star in the sprinting ranks, with a junior world title and four Oceania titles to his name.

Last year in his first year as an under 19, he was part of a strong Australia Team at the 2023 UCI Junior Track World Championships in Colombia.

Ryan hoped for a podium finish in the kilo, and surprised himself when he blasted around four laps of the track in 1:00.748 to claim gold and the title. His time was less than three tenths of a second outside the World Record, held by countryman Thomas Cornish from 2018 in Aigle, Switzerland.

“It was a dream come true,” Ryan said reflecting on the result. “I went into worlds thinking my best possible result could be a podium if I was lucky, and I ended up winning the kilo and almost breaking the world record. It was a really special feeling and too be honest still hasn’t quite sunk in!”

With a world title to his name, he was the name to watch in the junior men’s sprint events at the 2024 Oceania Track Championships in Cambridge. He did not disappoint, claiming four titles including the kilo, which he won racing in the rainbow jersey.

“Oceania’s this year was super successful for me, it meant a lot to be able to claim four golds at my first ever Oceania champs, and felt like a culmination of all of my hard work for the past few years,” said Ryan.

With limited racing opportunities, Ryan identifies the Oceania Championships as a key opportunity for development for junior riders.

“Oceania Champs are super important for riders because it gives us international racing exposure, which can be really hard to come by as junior as there can be limited international opportunities.”

From here he has his eyes the 2024 Junior World Championships in August in China, and with an extra year of experience and knowledge from last year he is looking to defend his crown and be a force in the sprint and keirin.

“I think the biggest thing I took from worlds this year is that it’s really important to be fast, but I need to be tactically proficient if I want to succeed in the sprint and Keirin competitions.

Ryan’s exploits on the bike have not gone unnoticed in Australian sporting circles and earned him further recognition being named the Commonwealth Games Australia Emerging Athlete of the Year.