Track triple treat: Gate buries demons of Tokyo
Aaron Gate pushed son Axel around the track on the bike he’d just powered to gold on, his smile painting a telling picture.
He couldn’t wipe it from his dial. Certainly not during the 40km points race medal presentation, shortly before New Zealand’s anthem filled the air at Lee Valley Velopark in London for the third time with him standing atop the podium during the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
To think Gate was apologising to the country a year ago, after crashing out of the bronze medal race during the men’s team pursuit at the Tokyo Olympics, breaking his collarbone.
‘‘I guess your bad races are what you learn from, and then to keep chipping away and be able to come out and race like that was pretty cool,’’ Gate said.
‘‘I’m pretty ecstatic. I guess I literally couldn’t do any better, coming here and winning three golds and having some team-mates on the podium as well, it’s just been an amazing few days at the track.’’
The Gate (45 points) and Campbell Stewart (38 points) onetwo in the final track event of the Games swelled New Zealand’s medal tally at the London velodrome to 13, making them the most dominant team ahead of Australia.
Eight of them gold, four silver, one bronze – New Zealand’s most successful performance on the track at a major event.
Ellesse Andrews and Gate accounted for six gold alone, becoming the fourth and fifth Kiwis to win three gold at a Commonwealth Games after Yvette Williams (1954), cyclist Gary Anderson (1990) and weightlifter Darren Liddel (1990).
Gate, who also won individual and team pursuit gold, achieved the feat shortly after Andrews did yesterday, ensuring the New Zealand anthem playing twice in quick succession capped the track programme at the Games.
‘‘Ellesse’s performance was some good inspiration just before we went out there, it was pretty cool to be warming up and see her ride like that,’’ Gate said of her dominant win in the keirin.
Speaking of dominant, Gate, Stewart and Corbin Strong put on a masterclass in how to take it to a field and rip it apart in the 40km points race.
With a gold medal assured, Gate, among the top three finishers on 10 of the 16 sprint laps, turned his attention to helping Stewart improve his position on the leaderboard.
He did so on the final lap, leading Stewart out to claim the 10 points on offer and catapult him past England’s Oli Wood.
‘‘It’s been some hard work put in over the last few years with my coach Simon Funnell back home, then to have the legs to be able to race like you want to race.
‘‘I’ve always enjoyed the points race, and to go out and be able to race aggressively and just get stuck in amongst Campbell and Corbin was really cool out there.’’
Recalling how he got hooked on cycling from a young age while
watching Kiwis perform on the big stage, it’s that type of performance Gate hopes will inspire others to do the same.
And he’s not done yet. Gate will also hit the road, lining up in the time trial and road race, which he’ll ride in a supporting role.
But first things first.
‘‘I’m going to have a Lion Rouge or some other classy beer I can find before preparing for the road race,’’ he said.