Cyclists complete podium hat-tricks
Dawkins and Hansen help take the Kiwi medal tally at the velodrome to a dozen
Eddie Dawkins and Natasha Hansen are leaving the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games with three medals apiece.
The Kiwi cycling duo both nabbed their third medal of the Games yesterday on a busy day at the track, with Dawkins claiming silver in the 1000m time trial and Hansen earning bronze in the women’s keirin.
For Dawkins, the silver saw him complete the full set of medals, after producing an incredible ride in his final event of the track cycling programme at Anna Meares Velodrome.
Dawkins had earlier won gold in the team sprint and bronze in the keirin, and yesterday clocked 59.928s in the men’s 1000m time trial to claim silver behind Australian Matthew Glaetzer.
It is the fastest time by a New Zealander at sea level, half a second quicker than the previous best set by Dawkins’ teammate Zac Williams, who had to settle for fourth in the event with 1m 01.083s.
World champion Glaetzer came over the top of Dawkins in the final ride of the event to nail a Games record in a sizzling 59.340s. The other New Zealander in the field, Dylan Kennett, clocked 1m 01.546s to finish seventh.
While gunning for gold, Dawkins was happy with his performance and tipped his helmet to the superb Glaetzer.
“I put my body on the line and came away with a time that I thought would be competitive. The only way you’re really happy with second is if the person who beats you sets a record in the process.”
For the Southlander, although the 1000m time trial isn’t part of the 2020 Olympics schedule, his strong showing is another good sign for his ultimate goal.
“It’s huge — I know I can put in the work and do the three of four days of competition at the Olympics and still have the same physical presence that I had on the last day as I had on the first day.”
Hansen joined Dawkins in claiming three medals, adding to her silvers in the individual and team sprint with a bronze in the keirin.
Hansen couldn’t get past the Australian duo of Stephanie Morton and Kaarle McCulloch, with Morton claiming a dominant gold and McCulloch edging Hansen for silver.
The 28-year-old said her Games campaign was beyond what she expected after not being at 100 per cent earlier in the season due to a back injury.
“It surpassed all my expectations to be doing PBs this week and racing as strong as I was. Last year was incredibly frustrating for me — I was going very slow just with difficulties from coming back from injury.
“So many people have been working so hard around the clock just to help bring me up to speed, and if I didn’t have all the help and all the extra time people have been putting in to help me, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to line up this week — I’m really grateful.”
Elsewhere on the track, Campbell Stewart claimed his second medal of