It’s been a year to remember for Tayte Ryan, who burst onto the international stage with performances that have grabbed the world’s attention.

At the UCI Junior Track World Championships, the 17-year-old won the rainbow jersey in the 1000m “kilo” Time Trial and was just short of a world record time in the qualifying and the final.

Logging an uber-impressive winning time of 1:00.748 in the final, Tayte also crossed the finish line in qualifiers at 1:00.546 – both times narrowly missing Thomas Cornish’s 2018 kilo world record of 1:00.498.

Tayte, who also won a silver medal in the 200-metre sprint with a near sub-10 second time, exceeded his own expectations as a first-year under-19 in his maiden world championship, describing the experience as “a life dream come true.”

“I can’t even begin to wrap my head around tonight… it’s insane,” Ryan said.

“It’s an amazing feeling knowing I’ve had such a successful World Championships campaign, even more so that I’m a first-year.

“I came to Worlds to soak up the experience and learn, and now I’m walking away with rainbows… definitely a good week on the bike.”

Only weeks prior to this, the self-proclaimed ‘Ginger Ninja’ represented Australia at the Trinbago Commonwealth Youth Games.

On the track in Trinidad, he swept the sprint events, claiming gold in the Men’s Keirin, 1000m Time Trial, and Sprint races.

In the Men’s Sprint, he was the fastest qualifier coming into the final and continued this form as he raced for the top spot on the podium, outclassing Syndal Samaroo of the host nation in a tight battle.

“Pretty unreal to represent Australia at the 2023 Youth Commonwealth Games… such an incredible experience and great racing – over the moon with my results,” Ryan said on Instagram.

“Massive thanks to everyone who made this possible.”