McConnells' dominance of cross country championships continues

Rebecca and Daniel McConnell took out the women's and men's elite cross country titles in Tasmania on Saturday.

While the wins give them momentum in the run to the Tokyo Olympic Games, which start in July if they go ahead, the national championships aren't directly used for Olympic selection - only international competition's used for that.

Rebecca McConnell made it eight elite championships in a row, a winning streak that extends to 15 years if you include her junior years as well.

She finished third at the past two world championships and has competed at the past two Olympics.

McConnell finished more than 11 minutes ahead of fellow Canberran Zoe Cuthbert, with Victoria's Karen Hill third.

It's Cuthbert's first year riding at the elite level.

McConnell revealed her domination of the national titles doesn't make her any less anxious leading into the event.

"The descent rode really well, so the biggest challenge was actually getting up the climb and up the flow trail," the 29-year-old said.

"Every time I come to nationals it's quite nerve-wracking cause this jersey means so much to me and I am not willing to give it up that easy."

Daniel McConnell also dominated the men's event, winning by almost five minutes from Jared Graves - with Cameron Ivory in third.

Like his wife, McConnell went straight to the front of the field and never relinquished his lead.

He's vying for his fourth Olympics, having made his debut at Beijing in 2008.

The 35-year-old has also dominated the nationals over the past decade.

"It was pretty tough. We didn't know at the start how wet it would get considering we had pretty dry conditions all week," McConnell said.

"It started to dry up, then it started to rain again and was such a really tough hard climb.

"The descent was hard, but the climb was worse."

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