Sprinter takes one for team

Ellesse Andrews has dreams of individual glory at the Commonwealth Games — but first she will be lending a hand to team-mates in need. The 22-year-old has four sprint events on her schedule at these Games, aiming to build on the stunning silver she claimed in the keirin at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

But Andrews’ initial involvement is set to come in an endurance discipline, riding a rescue mission for a New Zealand pursuit team who had been in danger of seeing their Games end before they began.

When Ally Wollaston fractured her wrist during the Tour de France Femme earlier in the week, the Kiwi team were scrambling to get the required four women to the start line.

Enter Andrews, who competed in the pursuit at junior level and won bronze at a world cup event in 2019 before shifting her focus solely to sprinting.

Answering the SOS call will add to a busy programme for Andrews, given both the team pursuit and team sprint have qualification tonight (NZT) and finals tomorrow morning.

But the Christchurch-born cyclist — who will later be competing in the individual sprint, the time trial and keirin — is happy to lend a hand.

“The only option for them to start their race was to have four women on the line,” Andrews told the Herald. “So that was the best option for our wider team — to put me on the line for that race.

“Obviously my priorities lie with the team sprint, so I’m not doing anything that’s going to compromise that or hurt me physically — that being my No 1 priority for the day.

“But of course I’m going to help the endurance girls, I’m just excited that they’re actually able to do their race. Even if it’s with three people, they can do what they came here to do.”

The pursuit team held serious medal hopes before Wollaston’s crash. Andrews’ involvement should keep alive their chances. Each team’s time is clocked on the third rider crossing the line, meaning Andrews will add what she can before turning it over to Bryony Botha, Michaela Drummond and Emily Shearman — and turning her attention to the sprint events.