Britain on track for Australian Olympic charge

British track cycling team bosses admit they are unlikely to dominate the Olympics as they did in Beijing following the resurgence of rivals Australia. But after the 2012 world championships, where both countries looked down on their rivals from atop the medals table, Britain's performance director Dave Brailsford was looking to London with optimism. "If we were maxing out, then there would be cause for concern," said Brailsford. "But I think there's no reason why we can't step up again. Britain's impressive 12-medal haul from the Laoshan velodrome in 2008 included seven gold from the 10 Olympic finals. Australia, the track kings of Athens in 2004, won only one medal, a silver, through sprinter Anna Meares. Australia, however, have now dominated the track world championships for the fourth consecutive year. "We are going to go to London expecting to be at our absolute best, and if we go there at our best the outcomes will take care of themselves," said Australia's performance director Kevin Tabotta. His team topped the table at the five-day championships with 15 medals including six gold while Britain were second on 13 including six gold. Brailsford admitted the competitive gap has narrowed. "There is nothing in it," said Brailsford. "Previously in some events there has been a physical difference and I don't think that's any longer the case." As well as winning more than a third of the competition's 57 medals, both teams dug deep to crucially win world titles in eight of the 10 Olympic events. Australia won the men's team sprint, the women's keirin and the men's omnium while Britain fared better with five gold in the women's and men's team pursuit, the women's sprint and omnium and the men's keirin. From the 10 Olympic disciplines, Britain and Australia won a total of 16 medals at the championships. A year on from winning just one world championship gold, Brailsford says he is even more encouraged by the intensity of performance shown by his team. Calling it the "hardest fought world champs I've ever seen", Brailsford saw world records in the men's and women's team pursuit as well as a number of intense battles from riders still fighting for Olympic selection. "There's so many nations now who have got so close, and there's so many riders desperate to get selection for the Games, the whole cocktail of those things has made it terrifically difficult and challenging," said Brailsford. "But I think we've come through it well, I think we've moved on which was the key thing and some of the key battles have gone our way." Tabotta echoed those thoughts: "I'm pretty pleased about the individual and team performances so far. "Medals have been great but the personal bests and the times that have been hit by the athletes have exceeded what we expected for the championships. "We're tracking really well... so we're pleased with the progress the athletes have made. We know what events we need to improve on between now and London." In the British capital the Britain v Australia rivalry is likely to lead to new world records for the men's (4 km) and women's (3 km) team pursuit events. Both nations also have solid gold medal contenders in the second endurance event, the omnium -- which will make its Olympic debut in London. The sprint events of the individual sprint, keirin and team sprint will be more difficult to predict. World records in the women's team sprint, for example, have been set five times in less than two months by teams from Australia, Britain and now Germany. The women's team sprint was one of the only championship events in which Britain or Australia did not win gold, the other being the men's sprint -- won by Frenchman Gregory Bauge. A three-time world champion in the past four years, he remains a formidable obstacle for sprinters from Britain and Australia and will play a key role in France's bid to win Olympic gold in the three-man event. In China four years ago two British flags hung over the podium after four of the seven finals. Now, only one rider per nation can compete in each event and the men and women will contend the same five events.