Gold rush is over, insists cycling chief
ELINOR BARKER saved Great Britain from embarrassment here — on the day cycling chief Stephen Park warned not to expect another gold rush at this summer’s Olympics.
The Welsh woman, 25, secured Great Britain’s only gold of the Track Cycling World Championships when she won yesterday’s points race. But Barker’s victory came in an event which is not actually in the Olympics, and it merely papered over the cracks of what has been a worrying week with just five months to go until Tokyo.
Britain’s tally of four medals is their worst performance at the World Championships preceding a Games since 2000. It is also the first time since Sydney that they will go into an Olympics without a world champion in one of the 12 events on the programme. At Rio 2016, GB won 11 medals in track cycling, six of them gold. It was seven golds out of nine medals at London 2012 and, at Beijing 2008, the track team claimed seven golds and 12 gongs in total.
British Cycling performance director Park, however, fears they could come back from Tokyo with their worst haul since Athens 2004, when they won only two golds and four medals. ‘We should temper our expectations,’ said Park during the final day here in Berlin. ‘I don’t expect any country to run away with the medals.
‘The days of any nation winning ten-plus medals have probably gone. I don’t think that is a result of GB’s performances decreasing, I think that is a result of the worldwide competition increasing. People will think: “Of course he’s got to manage expectations”. But the reality is the standard of track cycling is increasing all the time and the difference in terms of equipment and technology is decreasing all the time.
‘People are paying more attention to some of the detail and lots of people who were involved in our programme are going out working with other teams.’
Former British rider Dan Bigham is a consultant with Denmark, who smashed the men’s team pursuit world record in Berlin, an event GB have won at the last three Olympics. Mehdi Kordi left British Cycling to coach Holland and he helped them break the world record in the men’s team sprint this week, another race the Brits have cleaned up in since Athens.
British Cycling are hoping they will see gains in Tokyo from their new bikes and kit, which they did not use in Berlin and has been their not-so-secret weapon at previous Olympics. But Park does not think even that will be enough this time.
‘I am confident the package we’re putting together for the riders will be better than anyone else,’ admitted the former British Sailing chief. ‘But I don’t think it’ll give us the difference we had before because there’s better equipment around and available for other teams.’
Park’s comments came as Barker registered an impressive win in the points race to go with the silver she secured in the team pursuit on Thursday. She said: ‘It’s not irrelevant that it’s not an Olympic event, but it doesn’t make it feel any less incredible.’
Katy Marchant failed to make the keirin final and Ethan Hayter and Ollie Wood finished ninth in the madison. That race was won by Denmark’s Lasse Norman Hansen and Michael Morkov, who had been isolated in his hotel room on Friday over fears he may have carried coronavirus from the cancelled UAE Tour.
Meanwhile, Chris Froome and Team Ineos are among those who have now been allowed to leave their hotel and travel home but others remain in quarantine in Abu Dhabi.
The first 450 tests for the virus have come back negative after around 600 riders, staff members and media were checked for the virus over the past two days. The remaining results are expected soon. Several teams confirmed early on Sunday they were beginning the journey home.
‘All our riders and staff now leaving UAE after being given the all clear,’ Team Ineos said on Twitter. ‘Thank you to all those who have helped us and looked after the team over recent days.’
The final two stages of the UAE Tour were cancelled as of Thursday night.