Archibalds create history with gold and a silver lining
First brother and sister to win medals for Scotland at same Commonwealth Games
Cycling siblings Katie and John Archibald made history at the Anna Meares Velodrome in Brisbane yesterday as they became the first brother and sister to win medals for Scotland at the same Commonwealth Games.
Katie struck first, taking gold in the women’s 3000m individual pursuit before her older brother collected silver in the men’s equivalent, the 4000m individual pursuit, on a stunning day for the family from Milngavie.
Katie, 24, silenced the partisan crowd as she overhauled Australia’s Rebecca Wiasak in the final to claim Scotland’s second gold of the Games after Neil Fachie’s cycling success on Thursday.
The Olympic team pursuit champion, who was a bronze medallist in the points race in Glasgow four years ago, fell behind in the early stages of the final but gradually reeled the Aussie in before cementing her authority in the closing laps, finishing in a time of 3min 26.088sec.
The Scot began the event as favourite and showed why in qualifying with a Commonwealth Games record time of 3:24.119. Her brother also broke the Games record to reach the final but lost to England’s Charlie Tanfield.
“This means so much,” said Katie. “Especially in the individual pursuit because it’s not an Olympic event.
“My brother has a Commonwealth medal too. We are not ones for partying but this is going to be our biggest Friday night for a while.”
John, 26, said: “I was surprised with my time in qualifying, taking a big chunk off my best. I’m usually good at backing up so was a bit disappointed with the final.
“I watched Katie’s heat run and the pressure was on her. The Commonwealth Games record went and they all went better than her personal best so she had her back against the wall but she pulled out and delivered on the day and that got me going.
“It didn’t quite work again in the final but it’s always great racing with Katie.”
Scotland also won three medals in the pool and are now up to fourth in the medal table.