Wendy Houvenaghel with her team-mates Joanna Rowsell and Lizzie Armitstead after the final

Wendy Houvenaghel earned gold in the Track Cycling World Championships in Poland on Thursday night as Great Britain won the team pursuit title.

County Londonderry native Houvenaghel, Joanna Rowsell and Lizzie Armitstead beat New Zealand by 1.273 seconds by clocking 3:22.720 in the final.

It was Houvenaghel's second medal of the championships after her individual silver on Wednesday night.

The trio were clinching Britain's first gold medal of the championships.

Houvenaghel, who took silver in the individual pursuit on Wednesday night, and her British team-mates were fastest in Thursday's qualifying round.

New Zealand were just under a second slower than the British in qualifying.

The New Zealand trio includes Alison Shanks who pipped Houvenaghel for gold in Wednesday's individual final.

The British trio clocked 3:25.147 in the afternoon qualifying - .88secs ahead of the Kiwis.

The Olympic silver medalist from Upperlands was over two seconds behind winner Shanks in Wednesday's individual decider.

Houvenaghel was fastest in the morning heats and she led in the final before fading from the halfway mark.

The Derry woman's qualifying time of three minutes 29.491 seconds would have given the 34-year-old victory in the final.

However, she laboured as the final progressed and crossed the line in three minutes 32.174 seconds.

Houvenaghel was runner-up to Great Britain team-mate Rebecca Romero at the Beijing Games.

Romero, who is on a post-Olympics sabbatical, won the world title in Manchester last year.

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