Venue uncertainty to see NSW Institute of Sport end track cycling program

Uncertainty over the future of Sydney 2000 Olympic venue the Dunc Gray velodrome is reported to have led the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) to drop its high-performance track cycling program from early 2025.

A critical training resource for elite and emerging track athletes based in NSW, the NSWIS track program relies heavily on access to NSW's lone indoor velodrome in the Western Sydney suburb of Bass Hill.

According to media reports, NSWIS riders and coaches were informed late last week that given increasing uncertainty around the 25-year-old velodrome, NSWIS will no longer be able to run the elite program from the venue.

As reported by Bicycling Australia, NSWIS advised “the New South Wales Institute of Sport will continue to support cycling, but the Institute will run a revamped program from April 2025.

“The NSWIS track cycling program can no longer be supported after that date due to concerns over the future of the Dunc Gray velodrome - a situation that is out of the Institute’s control.

“NSWIS is working with AusCycling to continue an NSWIS Cycling program which focuses on road riding and mountain biking disciplines.

“The Institute will also maintain support for BMX athletes through the NSWIS Individual Athlete’s Program (IAP), of which Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold medallist Saya Sakakibara is a NSWIS Scholarship holder.

“All Podium, Podium Ready and Podium Potential category level athletes can apply for IAP scholarships.”

The program will end as of March 2025.

Bicycling Australia noted “athletes, officials and promoters have long bemoaned the state of the track and adjacent facilities at Dunc Gray, warning of the increasingly urgent need for repairs, upgrades or even relocation of the Baltic pine track that officially opened in 1999 after being built at a cost of $42 million.”

Constructed for the Sydney 2000 Olympics and opened in November 1999, the venue was originally owned by the NSW Government and managed by the City of Canterbury Bankstown, who, for a period, sublet it to the Bankstown Sports Club.

As per an agreement at the time of its construction, the Council assumed ownership of the venue in 2019 but, with the venue losing around $500,000 a year it has repeatedly sought NSW Government for its operation.

Prior to that, acting Canterbury-Bankstown administrator, Richard Colley, told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2016, “unfortunately, track cycling is a very small sport that requires a very large investment in the venue that you use for it.”

NSWIS was established by NSW Government in the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

According to its website, it currently provides “world-class training environments for over 450 high performance athletes and coaches across 28 sports.”