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Jo Kiesanowski in action at the cyling world championships - Source: Photosport
Kiwi cyclist Jo Kiesanowski improved her standing in the Olympic omnium with strong showings in the points and elimination races.
Kiesanowski (33) sits 11th halfway through the six-event competition, but had to rally from a shaky start in the opening flying-lap time trial. She clocked 14.924s for the 250m distance to sit 16th, almost a second slower than early leader Laura Trott of Britain.
Her performance placed her ahead of just two rivals in the 18-woman field and left her with considerable work to do if she was to contest for a medal.
But she was a strong seventh in the points race, one of nine riders to put a lap on the rest of the field, and repeated the placing in the elimination race.
Kiesanowski was a silver medallist in the scratch race at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, and contested the road race at the previous two Olympics. She was sixth in the omnium at this year's world championships in Melbourne.
"I was definitely a little disappointed with the overall result," admitted Kiesanowski to SKY Sport. "But I had some solid finishes in all the mass-start races and finished with a PB in the time trial, so that was a good way to finish at least.
"I was hoping for a medal and was definitely capable, but I needed six consistent events and I had a couple that really let me down."
Trott seized the early advantage with a time of 14.057s in the flying lap, one-thousandth of a second faster than Frenchwoman Clara Sanchez, a specialist sprinter.
But the Briton missed the break in the points race and slipped to third overall after two events. Pole Malgorzata got out ahead of the field to gain a lap and win two of the eight intermediate sprints, while Hammer's fifth placing was enough to grab the overall lead.
Trott came back to win the elimination from Hammer and the pair share the top position heading into the second day, consisting of the 3000m individual pursuit, the scratch race and 500m time trial.