GOLDEN VELODROME
AUSSIE CYCLISTS CLAIM HALF THE FIRST-DAY TRACK HONOURS ON OFFER
IT was a golden night at the velodrome for Australian cyclists, who claimed half of the gold medals on offer on day one of the Commonwealth Games track cycling.
Australians were expected to make an impact when the track program kicked off at the Lee Valley velodrome in London and they did not disappoint with three convincing victories.
Jess Gallagher, and pilot Caitlin Ward, got the ball rolling in the women’s tandem sprint, claiming Australia’s first gold medal of the Games.
The women’s pursuit team quickly backed this up by smashing the Commonwealth Games record en route to a dominant win in the 4000m team pursuit and the men’s sprint team joint them on the top of the podium and in the record books in the last race of the evening.
The win in the men’s sprint was brought home by Matt Glaetzer, who now has four Commonwealth Games gold medals.
He said this one was special after he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2019 and then a tough Olympics campaign last year.
“It has been a tough couple of years and almost a tougher eight months after the Olympics, tough to get into training,” he said.
“But I knew I was capable and wanted to deliver some more medals for Australia.”
He was joined by young guns Matt Richardson and Leigh Hoffman in breaking the Commonwealth Games record in qualifying and then in the final against England.
Hoffman said he thought the team could do something special and hoped Glaetzer could stay with them to Paris.
“First time together and first gold medal, yeah, pretty chuffed with that,” he said.
“I’m 22, Matt (Richardson) here is 23 and the other Matt is 29, so we all have a lot more legs. Matt G hopefully continues on and it shows that he still has the form.”
Glaetzer said it would definitely motivate him. “What we do isn’t easy and it doesn’t get easier as I get older, but it is a real carrot to chase as we get going over the coming years as we get stronger … will get better and it will be phenomenal to see what we can do if we stay healthy,” he said.
Also dreaming of big things in the next couple of years are the women’s team pursuit after it trounced New Zealand in its final and producing its second Commonwealth Games record ride of the day.
The performance of Georgia Baker, Maeve Plouffe, Sophie Edwards and Chloe Moran in London has the team optimistic about what they could do in Paris in two years time.
“We obviously have a really fresh team here. We haven’t had a lot of competition and to come here and break the Comm Games record in qualifying and then break it again in the final was pretty cool,” Baker said.
“It is definitely a new era. I think we have a good strong team, so I think some more records can fall.”
Gallagher, the first Australian to medal at the Winter and Summer Paralympics, thought her days of riding the tandem were over when her previous pilot retired in 2019.
But her new pilot Ward produced a sensational ride in the closing stages of the second race of their final to come from behind and secure victory over Scotland’s Aileen McGlynn and Ellie Stone.
“They had nothing to lose. We went one up, so we knew they were going to be aggressive.
But Caity is a phenomenal pilot and rider and she was just aggressive back,” Gallagher said.
“Working your way from the back position in the tandem is really hard, so she just kept working.”