Animosity eclipses great result for NZ
AUCKLAND: Antagonism has overshadowed New Zealand’s goldsilver finish in the men’s mountain bike race at the Commonwealth Games.
Sam Gaze and Anton Cooper have completed a repeat onetwo finish on the Gold Coast, reversing the order from Glasgow.
Gaze delivered a blistering denouement after a puncture, as Cooper attempted to defend his title.
Gaze led into the final lap, but decided to pull off to get air pumped into his back tyre.
However, the win came with rancour.
The race reignited the pair’s intense rivalry which extended back to Glasgow. Gaze put his forefinger to his lips as he crossed the finish line and stood expressionless atop the dais.
‘‘There’s good sportsmanship and there’s not, and I felt like that wasn’t there today,’’ Gaze said of Cooper’s decision to keep racing after the puncture.
‘‘It’s a bit of a shame really. I have the utmost respect for the guy [Cooper], even with that move and before the finish. That’s racing. You can’t get along with everyone. The good guys always win.’’
Cooper pounced on the advantage. He said mountain biking does not maintain the road cycling tradition where riders wait for a problem to be resolved before resuming.
‘‘No, there’s nothing like that," he said.
‘‘I can’t think of a situation where anyone would sit and wait. If you have a mechanical issue, that’s rider error. It’d be the same as making a poor line choice out there. It’s just part of the game — you have to nurse your bike.’’
Cooper said the sprint at the top was crucial, before the last downhill.
‘‘That was kind of the finish line and he managed to sneak around me there. I didn’t close the door early enough. I couldn’t have drifted any harder across because that wouldn’t have been fair.’’
Shortly after the incident, Gaze was ushered through by secondplaced South African Alan Hatherly to continue his duel. He came from more than 20 seconds back to regather the lead in an elbowtoelbow passing manoeuvre, creating one of the Games’ most thrilling moments.
‘‘I had the motivation from four years ago where I felt a bit robbed,’’ Gaze said.
‘‘Today I wasn’t accepting anything other than a win.’’
Gaze carried confidence into the event after becoming the first New Zealander to win an elite UCI World Cup title in Stellenbosch, South Africa, last month. He also gained the Rio Olympic spot, but fell ill and finished 37th out of 49 riders.
Cooper said he could not think of anything he would have done to change the Gold Coast result.
‘‘I might look back later and think I could’ve done something. Even on the last lap I don’t know what happened to Sam, I saw he stopped. When he came through the tyre looked fine and it’s not my job to sit around and ask. I kept on riding.
‘‘I thought at that point it was me and the South African heading up the hill, so I attacked, then I saw Sam 1520m behind.’’
Earlier, the pair worked alongside Hatherly to build a lock on the podium.
Gaze later apologised for his actions via a carefullyworded statement.
‘‘I’m a competitive guy and when I had that issue with my bike I thought my dream was over. I reacted badly and want to apologise for my words and my actions. I am really embarrassed for how I acted and how
There’s good sportsmanship and there’s not, and I felt like that wasn’t
there today
the impact of how special of a day it was for New Zealand Cycling was tainted by my actions.
‘‘I respect Anton and his ability to race hard and fast and I regret the way that I spoke right after the race. He is an incredible rider and together we put on a really exciting race today. I was proud that we could finish onetwo again like we did in Glasgow and am grateful for the talent we are growing in New Zealand.
‘‘I have caught up with Anton and apologised personally, but I wanted to let the New Zealand team here on the Gold Coast and the public know that I acted in the heat of the moment and will work on making sure this type of action doesn’t happen again. Thanks for everyone’s support. I
am sorry that my actions have affected the public’s view of how really special these Games have been.’’
Fellow Kiwi Ben Oliver was fourth in the race.
In the women’s race, Kiwi Samara Sheppard finished a disappointing ninth. She punctured a tyre in the early stages of the race to sit more than a minute off the pace after the first lap and could not recover.
After a brief rally, the Australianbased 27yearold fell back once again to finish almost six minutes off goldmedallist Annie Last, of England, completing six laps of the 4.5km Nerang course in 1hr 23.46sec. — NZME/NZN