Olympic nightmare spurs Kiwi rider
Aaron Gate has described the 2022 Commonwealth Games as the start of his ‘‘redemption campaign’’ after crashing out of the Tokyo Olympics 12 months ago.
Gate broke his collarbone during the bronze medal race of the men’s team pursuit when he clipped teammate Jordan Kerby’s back wheel and hit the deck at high speed.
The frightening incident occurred at the worst possible time as it happened just as Regan Gough had done a massive pull at the front and was about to drop away.
The New Zealand quartet were leading Australia prior to the crash but could not recover after Gate went down hard with Gough unable to get back on the wheel.
The injuries Gate sustained from the impact, which included a broken right collarbone and burns to his shoulder, also ruled him out of the madison and the omnium.
But his replacement for the omnium, Campbell Stewart, went on to win a silver medal after stepping in at short notice and Gate was one of the first to congratulate him at the finish.
Gate needed three operations to repair his collarbone after it became infected following the first round of surgery, so it has not been an easy road back to full health for the 31-year-old, who won a bronze medal in the points race in his last
Commonwealth Games appearance in 2014.
But his overall win at the Tour of Hellas in Greece in May with the Black Spoke team was evidence he was finally getting back to his best form, having also bounced back from the injuries suffered in Tokyo to snare a silver in the omnium at the track world championships in France late last year.
‘‘The shoulder’s been fine for quite a few months now which is good,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s been nice to have that headache behind me. Three operations later. But I’m better, faster, stronger as they say.’’
After debuting in Delhi in 2010, Gate said he had arrived at his third Commonwealth Games with a sense of unfinished business given what transpired in Tokyo.
‘‘Tokyo for sure is a motivator here. It’s kind of a redemption campaign for me and I think the boys are all pretty motivated too to get stuck in and lay down our best possible team pursuit qualifier and hopefully be in the hunt for a gold medal.
‘‘To get back on the boards at our training camp was pretty important. It was good to see that the racing that I’ve been doing with Black Spoke still ticked all the boxes physically so I can be in the best possible condition for this event.
‘‘It was pretty cool to help Tom Scully win a gold in Glasgow at my last Comm Games but it would nice to have a similar performance [in the points race], as we had first and third in Glasgow.
‘‘I’d like to contribute something there in the strong group of three riders we have there with myself, Campbell and Corbin [Strong]. We’re ready to rip into it.’’
Gate will tackle a brutal schedule, competing in five different events across the track and road within the space of nine days.
He is down to do the team pursuit, individual pursuit and the points race before he will change bikes and shift his attention to the
‘‘Tokyo for sure is a motivator here. It’s kind of a redemption campaign for me.’’
Aaron Gate
time trial and the road race, where he will link up with an experienced group of WorldTour riders that includes Tour of Turkey winner Patrick Bevin and 2014 silver medallist Jack Bauer.
‘‘I’ve got to stay busy,’’ he said. ‘‘The attributes I get from the track is what gives me the ability to be a punchy rider on the road and the endurance side of things on the road is what makes me one of the more aerobic riders on the track too.
‘‘They sort of go hand in hand and I get a real kick out of both of them and the variety is what keeps life exciting.
‘‘Being able to do both is something that is pretty cool. The focus this year has certainly been on the road. The track isn’t an afterthought but it’s a stepping stone on the way back to the Paris Olympics where the main redemption will come.
‘‘But it’s still a bloody important event and when you come together with a group of guys that are going really well that’s motivating in itself to go out there and give our best possible performance.’’