Matt: ‘ I owed Australia’

REDEMPTION took just 59.3 painful seconds for Matthew Glaetzer last night as he used the disappointment of his shock individual sprint defeat to spur him to gold in the 1km time trial at the Commonwealth Games.

Glaetzer followed in the footsteps of Australia’s original ‘ minute man’ Shane Kelly by winning the event, which was his second gold medal for the week. Driven by his shock exit in the first round of the sprint on Saturday when he went in as the reigning world champion, the 25- year- old executed his race against the clock to perfection with 59.34sec to destroy New Zealander Ed Dawkins in 59.928 and Scotland’s Olympic champion Callum Skinner in 1: 01.083.

“It was big today ... after a shocking day yesterday,” Glaetzer said.

“I had to regroup, some- times things don’t go the way you plan them.

“This is really good to come back and prove to yourself that you can do it, get one up for Australia, because I owed them one for yesterday, so I am over the moon.”

Asked how he dealt with the disappointment of the day before and regrouped, Glaetzer said: “The whole team got around to me, the support staff, my parents. And a bit of prayer as well, just to get my head space in the right area, just go out here and do what I do best.

“I had to reset for another day. It’s going to take even longer to get over yesterday, but I knew I had a job to do today, so that is what I had to do.”

In winning, Glaetzer broke the Games record which belonged to two- time gold medallist and fellow Australian Scott Sunderland of 1: 00.675 set in 2014 and recorded the fastest time ever ridden at sea level. Minutes before he took to the start line, six- time Olympic gold medal winning track sprinter Sir Chris Hoy predicted he’d go 59.4 and Glaetzer even proved him wrong by going one better.

The Adelaide cyclist celebrated with a double fist pump to the crowd then thumped his chest after finishing his Games on a major high.

Glaetzer finishes the Games with two gold in the 1km TT and keirin, and one bronze in the team sprint, in positive signs heading towards the Tokyo Olympics.

The two- time Olympian broke his own sea level world record of 59.733sec at the world championships in March and has been targeting this event at the Commonwealth Games for the past six months.

The world record is 56.303 but was set at altitude by Frenchman Francois Pervis in 2013.