Australia's Katie Mactier bowed to a stunning world record performance by New Zealand's Sarah Ulmer and took the silver medal in the 3000m individual pursuit in Olympic track cycling.

Ulmer set her second world record in as many days when she powered home in three minutes 24.537 seconds, six second faster than the mark she held coming into the Olympics.

Mactier's time was a PB of 3:27.650, improving on the world record she set in the qualifying rounds before Ulmer smashed it by three seconds a matter of minutes later.

The 29-year-old from Melbourne went out hard from the start as she always does but Ulmer reeled her in during the second kilometre and ran away to win the fastest 3000m race seen.

It was Australia's second individual pursuit silver of the Games, following Brad McGee's second place.

But Mactier's teammate Kate Bates was beaten by defending champion and four-time Olympic gold medallist Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel in the bronze medal race.

Zijlaard-van Moorsel set another remarkable time of 3:27.037 which would have been a world record 24 hours earlier.

Mactier has made a remarkable rise in her short career as a track cyclist.

She was a schoolgirl athlete but gave up competitive sport when she studied at Melbourne's RMIT, taking up triathlons in her mid-20s for fun.

Victorian Institute of Sport officials convinced her to ditch the running and swimming and, at the age of 24, she started road racing.

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