Emotions soured glorious gold
Everyone was set to celebrate another New Zealand Commonwealth Games mountainbiking quinella. Then Sam Gaze’s fingers and mouth got a wagging and things took an ugly turn.
Having just completed one of the most remarkable comebacks you will ever likely see, Gaze lashed team-mate Anton Cooper for a perceived lack of sportsmanship, inferring he felt Cooper should not have attacked when he had to head to the pits with a rear wheel puncture heading into the last lap.
He would later apologise to Cooper in person and to the public via social media, but the damage was done.
A photo emerged of Gaze showing his middle finger in the direction of Cooper as he set off up the hill while Gaze waited in the pits. That was an appetiser of what was to come, with Gaze crossing the finish line with one finger held to his lips in the classic ‘‘shut up’’ pose.
But he wouldn’t be silent after the race.
‘‘There is good sportsmanship and there’s not, and I feel like that wasn’t there today,’’ Gaze said.
‘‘It’s a bit of a shame really, I’ve got the utmost respect for the guy, still, even with that move.’’
‘‘That’s racing, you can’t get along with everyone.’’
At some point post-race, Gaze has realised the error of those words and issued his apology.
He said his emotions got the better of him, apologised for both his actions and his words, and how those impacted New Zealand’s big day.
Fair play to him for that. It’s not easy to admit you were wrong, but his actions still overshadowed the moment.
His words weren’t just about the race or the last-lap puncture. If they were, then that final lap, where he came so far behind to overwhelm Cooper, would have been cause for jubilation.
This was about four years of angst he has felt after feeling he was robbed of gold when Cooper won at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.
The word going into the race was the pair didn’t like each other and their actions post-race indicated as much.
Barely a word was spoken between the pair. A customary handshake was given and they posed for the obligatory photos, but tension hung over the familyfriendly climes of the Nerang Mountainbike Trails.
There were no hugs or big congratulations offered, as other Kiwi athletes have done when team-mates have beaten them this Games. The mind immediately went back to the Anna Meares Velodrome last week when Sam Webster was taking photos of Eddie Dawkins on the podium after the latter claimed bronze in the keirin. Webster was fifth in that race.
While Cooper waited for a post-race media interview, he had to stand metres away from Gaze as he received plaudits from Cycling New Zealand staff and random people in the street. He stood and stared, but said nothing.
Cooper said he felt there was nothing wrong with what he did, and he’s probably right.
In road racing, a mid-race puncture of a leading rider might lead to the peloton waiting for them, but in the last few kilometres, as the two rivals were at the Games, the peloton would wait for no-one. You can’t just stop the race.
This isn’t road racing either and Cooper believes no such etiquette existed because punctures in mountainbiking were more down to ‘‘rider error’’ than bad luck.
Whatever the case, the postrace feud did leave a sour taste after what was an enthralling race. Gaze picked himself up to not only catch Cooper, but ride past him on a flat section at the top of the track.
In that moment, Cooper said he showed sportsmanship.
‘‘I tried to gradually come across to make him come around the outside, but he got across in the sticks and leaves and managed to get his way through there. There was not more I could’ve done without actually pushing him into the trees, which wouldn’t quite be right.’’
What does need to be mentioned is that Gaze made his comments immediately after the race in what is called the ‘‘mixed zone’’.
He had already been past the cameras and microphones of TVNZ, NZME and the BBC before he reached Stuff. Perhaps the post-race frustration had built to a point where he just let rip. Interviewing sportspeople right after emotional wins, either happy or frustrated, can often bring out raw responses if the right questions are asked. Gaze was much more circumspect in his interviews after the podium ceremony.
So while Gaze does deserve a bit of criticism for his antics both during the race and after, try not to jump on the bloke too much, especially given he’s put his hand up to admit his mistake.
This was a hugely emotional moment for a self-described emotional person. He’d picked himself up off the canvas of not only Glasgow, but the massive last-lap deficit.
Unfortunately, that emotion boiled over.