APELDOORN: Kirsten Wild completed a hat-trick of gold medals and Jeffrey Hoogland won the men’s 1km time trial to give hosts the Netherlands a table-topping haul of five gold and 12 medals altogether at the Track Cycling World Championships on Sunday. In the two other finals on the last day of the event in Apeldoorn, Germans Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt won the men’s madison and Belgian Nicky Degrendele the women’s keirin. Hoogland, who helped the Dutch win the men’s team sprint, won his individual event in 59.459 seconds, 0.286 faster than Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer with his fellow Dutchman Theo Bos taking the bronze medal. Wild, who won gold in the women’s omnium and scratch, scored 49 points in the 25km race, six more than Jennifer Valente of the United States with third-placed Canadian Jasmin Duehring notching 30. The German men’s pair took the Madison with 53 points, eight better than silver medallists Albert Torres and Sebastian Mora of Spain. Australians Cameron Meyer and Callum Scotson claimed bronze. Degrendele was 0.086 seconds faster than Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong in the keirin final in which Lithuanian Simona Krupeckaite was third. The Netherlands won twice as many medals as their closest rivals. Germany won four gold and two bronze, Britain two gold, three silver and a bronze and Australia two of each colour. The United States won two gold in their haul of four and Italy one gold and one silver in a total of six medals. Published in Daily Times, March 6th 2018.