Twelve years after first clipping into pedals with Central Coast Cycling Club, Liliya Tatarinoff stood on the podium at the 2025 UCI Track Cycling World Championships with a bronze medal around her neck. At just 19 years old and in her debut year as an elite athlete, the Central Coast teenager helped Australia secure bronze in the women’s team sprint on October 22, proving that regional clubs can nurture world-class champions.
Record-breaking performance in Santiago
Competing alongside Alessia McCaig, Molly McGill, and Kristine Perkins at Velódromo Peñalolén in Santiago, Chile, Tatarinoff rode as the crucial first rider in the qualifying round. The team immediately broke the Australian record, qualifying third-fastest. In Round 1, they shattered their own record again with a blistering time of 46.453 seconds—all three of their rides came in under 47 seconds, faster than any time posted at the previous year’s World Championships.
In the bronze medal final, Australia defeated Poland by 1.26 seconds with a time of 46.773 seconds. Teammate Molly McGill captured the significance: “To finish on the podium is very special for us. It’s very exciting times for our squad—we have a great group of girls who are all capable of being in this team.”
Overcoming adversity through determination
What makes Tatarinoff’s achievement even more remarkable is the challenge she overcame just months before the championships. Earlier in 2025, NSWIS pulled funding for track cycling sprint, shutting the door on developing sprinters in New South Wales despite Australia’s traditional success in the discipline. Without access to international-level coaching and the Dunc Gray velodrome, young sprinters had to look elsewhere to continue their development.
Undeterred, Liliya was accepted by Shane Perkins—a former World Champion in the Keirin—and the Western Australian Institute of Sport. After just six weeks of training in Western Australia, she impressed coaches at the Australian sprint team trials camp in Brisbane, earning her selection for the World Championships.
AusCycling Head Coach Eric Haakonssen praised the balanced squad that featured Tatarinoff earning selection in her first year out of juniors, giving the team “both immediate podium potential and an eye on fast-tracking the next generation”. That faith was vindicated in Santiago.
The Central Coast connection
Central Coast Cycling Club has been fundamental to Tatarinoff’s development throughout her 12-year journey in the sport. Training at Adcock Park Velodrome in West Gosford, she dominated at the 2022 U17 National Track Championships, winning five gold medals and one silver while setting national records.
Her achievements already include gold at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games and multiple national titles. At the 2024 Junior Track Cycling World Championships, she finished fourth in three events—performances that signaled her readiness for elite competition.
Olympic dreams ahead
Beyond the team sprint bronze, Tatarinoff also competed in the women’s Keirin, advancing to the quarter-finals where she faced a heat containing four former world champions. Her goals are clear and ambitious: representing Australia at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and making her Olympic debut at LA 2028.
As part of Australia’s long-term sprint development program building toward Brisbane 2032, she’s positioned as a cornerstone of the nation’s future in track cycling. Her bronze medal validates Central Coast Cycling Club’s junior development program and demonstrates how regional clubs can produce world championship medalists despite systemic challenges.
The club that nurtured her for 12 years now watches with immense pride as she represents not just Australia, but the Central Coast on the global stage—with Olympic dreams firmly in her sights.