text: CYCLING - BOARDMAN FULFILS WORLD RECORD PREDICTION . Martin Ayres MANCHESTER , England 1996-08-28 Britain 's Chris Boardman fulfilled his prediction that he would break the world 4,000 metres world record in the world track cycling championships on Wednesday . Boardman clocked four minutes 13.353 seconds to slice more than six seconds from the previous world mark of 4:19.699 set by Olympic champion Andrea Collinelli of Italy in Atlanta in July . Collinelli qualified in second place , also beating his old record in 4:17.696 . " I was very nervous before the start but then I was amazed by the speed of my ride , " Boardman said . " I do n't know if I can go any faster . Who knows what will happen in the later stages ? " Boardman , 28 , did not contest the Olympic pursuit because of its proximity to the Tour de France in which he led the French GAN team . However , he took a bronze medal in the Olympic road time-trial and then returned home to prepare for the world track series in the Manchester indoor velodrome . He adopted the " superman " riding position with arms at full stretch perfected by fellow Briton Graeme Obree , the 1995 world champion , and taken up in Atlanta by Collinelli . Obree was forced to pull out of his title defence because of a viral infection . Qualifiers for Wednesday evening 's quarter-finals : 1. Chris Boardman ( Britain ) 4:13.353 2. Andrea Collinelli ( Italy ) 4:17.696 3. Mariano Friedick ( U.S. ) 4:19.808 4. Heiko Szonn ( Germany ) 4:21.009 5. Francis Moreau ( France ) 4:21.454 6. Alexei Markov ( Russia ) 4:22.738 7. Michael Sandstod ( Denmark ) 4:24.427 8. Edouard Gritsoun ( Russia ) 4:26.467