New Zealand's track cyclists pulled off one of their best ever performances at the World Championships in Hong Kong with five medals - which pleased Cycling New Zealand CEO Andrew Matheson.
Five medals equals the record the Kiwis set in 2012 and 2014, and Matheson believes that this could be the motivation New Zealand needs to prepare for next year' World Championships and Commonwealth Games, along with the 2020 Olympics.
"It was great to get some success and go forward looking ahead to Tokyo," said Matheson.
"We had a great mix of youth and experience in our team and the knowledge shared between the older and younger ones enabled that performance to come through.
"This year was about getting out footprint on the ground and with three years to go [till the Tokyo Olympics] we have a really good platform and we are confident we are on the right track."
The success was led by the men's sprinters, with the team of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins claiming gold for the third time in four years.
Mitchell capped a fine week with New Zealand's first-ever individual sprint medal, a bronze.
"To come out and defend our title was huge for us," said Mitchell.
"We all spend lots of energy focussing on how we could turn things around and to do that was special.
"To get a bronze medal was very special for me as it was my first individual international medial and to do that was a great feeling.
"After Rio I wanted to branch out and become an individual rider and to come out with a bronze was very motivating."
Other medals went to Aaron Gate in the new-look omnium and to the men's and women's team pursuit combinations.
New Zealand has two major events in 2018, the track cycling world championships in the Netherlands followed up by the Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Newshub.