GLORY CHASE AUSSIE CYCLISTS WERE AT THEIR LOWEST AFTER THE RIO OLYMPICS BUT THANKS TO THE EFFORTS OF RIDERS LIKE STEPHANIE MORTON, THEY ARE BACK TO THEIR BEST, AS REPORTS
REECE HOMFRAY
AUSTRALIAN sprint star Stephanie Morton is fast becoming the complete package after joining Australian cycling royalty with her third gold medal of the Games.
Morton, 27, produced a masterclass in the women’s keirin final last night to beat Kaarle McCulloch in an Aussie 1-2 while Kiwi Natasha Hansen was third.
On a night when it was raining gold for Australia at the Chandler velodrome with earlier wins to Matthew Glaetzer and Amy Cure, Morton’s win was the 10th gold medal for the host nation on the track and elevated her to very rare air.
Having already won the team sprint and individual sprint this week, Morton joined Anna Meares, Kathy Watt and Cameron Meyer as the only Australian cyclists to win three gold medals at the one Games.
“I can’t believe I’ve ticked all the boxes I wanted to coming into these Games,” Morton (pictured below) said.
“I wanted gold in the team sprint, in the keirin and in the 500m (time trial) yesterday.
“I absolutely rode out of my skin and got a massive PB.”
It was also Australia’s 10th gold medal on the velodrome in four days – taking them past their total of seven from Glasgow four years ago. After gliding through her first round heat and semi-final, Morton brought her A-game to the final and was never seriously threatened.
She went to the front with two laps to go and had McCulloch on her wheel but neither her teammate or any rival could find the speed to come around the outside and she held on for a convincing win.
Morton had already stepped out of Meares’ shadow as Australia’s new queen of the track but she is now putting together STEPHANIE MORTON
the type of effort that could make her the best in the world come the 2020 Olympics.
While she has always had the pure speed, her tactical sprinting has improved dramatically in recent years and now her confidence in a bunch race like the keirin has gone to the next level after a stint in the Japanese keirin series last year.
I CAN’T BELIEVE I’VE TICKED ALL THE BOXES I WANTED TO COMING INTO THESE GAMES