Sarah Ulmer's national record in the 3000m individual pursuit has been broken after almost 20 years.
Ulmer set her record during her gold medal race in Athens in 2004 which stood as a world record for six years.
While her time was beaten in 2010 by American Sarah Hammer for a new world record, the 3:24.537 mark remained a New Zealand record for 18 years - until last weekend.
Auckland rider Bryony Botha, who raced for New Zealand at last year's Tokyo Olympics in the women's team pursuit, beat the time while making a rare appearance at the Waikato-Auckland champs in Cambridge.
Botha came in at a time of 3:24.256, beating Ulmer's old record by just 0.281 seconds.
"I don't think anyone realised it was a record, especially with no crowds there. It was super low-key. And no-one actually knew the exact time of Sarah's record," Botha said.
“I texted Brendon Cameron and said sorry but I have broken Sarah’s record and he came back to congratulate me.
"Sarah also messaged me to say 'Congratulations. You must be so excited. Here’s to this just being the start of a few more breaks'.
"It is cool and good for the women's endurance programme. It was bound to happen at some stage, and I am just glad I was the one to do it."
Botha added the result shows her work with coach Ross Machejefski is paying off.
“If I keep doing what I am doing with Ross, then I think I can knock a couple seconds off it and aim to medal at the Commonwealth Games and World Championships.”
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