Andrews, Gate join elite triple gold club
BIRMINGHAM: Ellesse Andrews won a fourth and final medal on the track yesterday, and this one was the most dominant of them all.
Andrews won gold in the women’s keirin after a masterclass of power and strategy throughout the event.
In all three races, Andrews hit the front in the final laps and simply overpowered her opponents who were helpless to come past her.
In her first heat, she rode the opposition off her wheel on the final lap to win, in the second round she remarkably rode on the front for the final three laps to win in absurdly easy fashion, and in the final she made a move to storm past a pair of Welsh riders and held off England’s Sophie Capewell by 0.05sec to go one better than her breakout silver medal in the event at the Olympics.
‘‘I’m so overwhelmed,’’ Andrews told Sky Sport.
‘‘I came here wanting to do my absolute best and leave everything out on the track, but I never could have imagined that this would be the final outcome.’’
Andrews explained her strategy to hit the front early came via a mentality to leave nothing to chance.
‘‘I like to put myself in a position to win and to do that you need to do it in every round.
‘‘You have to qualify in the first and second races to make it to the final so I’m racing every race like it’s my last to ensure I can make it through the rounds.’’
However, that ruthless strategy was juxtaposed by her relaxed demeanour prerace, which the 22yearold said was crucial to maintaining a good mindset.
‘‘I was really relaxed. I just wanted to come out here and have some fun.
‘‘I’ve been so happy with my campaign and I wanted to go as hard as I could but it was most important for me that I had fun and enjoyed myself, because you’re in such a good relaxed mindset when you’re thinking about that stuff. The rest of the race just follows.’’
Andrews adds the keirin gold to her golds in the team sprint and individual sprint, as well as the silver medal she was credited with for helping out the team pursuit squad.
It elevated the Wanakaraised cyclist into elite territory, joining the great Yvette Williams, cyclist Gary Anderson and weightlifter Darren Liddel on the list of New Zealanders to win three golds at a single Commonwealth Games.
An hour after Andrews won her third gold, Aaron Gate joined her in the golden triple club, winning the men’s 40km points race.
Gate, who previously won gold in the team pursuit and individual pursuit, put on a classy showing in the points race, hitting the lead with 100 laps to go and then strategically and consistently picking off points with the help of a perfect team performance.
Teammate Campbell Stewart took silver to add to his team pursuit gold, while Corbin Strong, gold medallist in the scratch race, played the role of faithful teammate, keeping the race together to ensure none of New Zealand’s rivals could take a lap on the field and the 20 points that came with it.
Strong’s commitment to the domestique role was such that he remained pointless until 10 laps to go, while Gate finished on 45, collecting points on 13 of the 16 sprints that were held every 10 laps to decide the victor.
England’s Ollie Wood tried to disrupt Gate’s ride to gold but New Zealand’s tactical masterclass ensured the team was not troubled. A threepoint lead with 70 laps to go was slowly being extended with each passing sprint.
Wood looked set for silver but the Kiwi team, aware Gate had gold sown up if he stayed on the bike, decided to have Gate lead out Stewart for the final sprint worth double points.
Stewart won the sprint in style to nab silver ahead of Wood and deliver a 12 for New Zealand in a race completely controlled by the Kiwi trio, ending an excellent campaign on the track at the Games. New Zealand claimed 13 medals, including eight golds.
One of the four medals gained yesterday came from Michaela Drummond who picked up her second medal of the Games, taking an excellent silver in the women’s 10km scratch race.
Drummond found the wheel of cycling superstar and home favourite Laura Kenny in the final laps of the race, as Kenny charged down Scotland’s Neah Evans.
The 24yearold Drummond was unable to come around the powerful Kenny on the line, but her tactics allowed to fly to a second silver.
The race had earlier been halted when Drummond’s teammate, Bryony Botha, was involved in a crash which forced her out of the race.
After Indian Meenakshi crashed, Botha was unable to avoid the fallen cyclist sliding to the bottom of the track, riding over the top of her.
Botha came away relatively unscathed compared to Meenakshi, who was stretchered off the velodrome, but Drummond ensured New Zealand’s chances did not go to waste.
Women’s singles quarterfinal: Joelle King beat Lucy Turmel (England) 911 1816 119 1412; men’s singles quarterfinal, Paul Coll beat Adrian Waller (England) 1210 114 117
Boxing
Men’s 57kg: Alex Mukuka beat George Molwantwa (Botswana) 32
Gymnastics
Men’s pommel horse: Ethan Dick 4th; men’s rings, Sam Dick 8th
Track cycling
Men’s 1km time trial: Nick Kergozou De La Boessiere 5th; women’s 10km scratch race, Michaela Drummond silver, Emily Shearman 16th, Bryony Botha DNF; women’s Keirin, Ellesse Andrews gold; men’s 40km points race, Aaron Gate gold, Campbell Stewart silver, Corbin Strong 8th
3x3 basketball
Men’s quarterfinal: NZ lost 2118 to Canada; women’s semifinal, NZ lost to Canada 1611
Beach volleyball
Women: NZ beat Ghana 2110, 2113; men, NZ beat Tuvalu 2114, 2117
Netball
Silver Ferns beat Malawi 6950
Hockey
Men: Black Sticks lost to Australia 72
Bowls
7.30pm: Women’s pairs, men’s singles; 2am, men’s fours, women’s triples
Weightlifting
8.30pm: Men’s 109kg (Junior Tasi); 5.30am, men’s 109kgplus (David Liti)
Judo
9pm: Men’s 100kgplus (Kody Andrews), women’s 78kgplus (Sydnee Andrews), men’s 100kg (Jason Koster), women’s 78kg (Moira Koster, Hayley Mackey)
Swimming
9.30pm: Men’s 200m medley (Lewis Clareburt), final 6.07am; 9.44pm, women’s 400m freestyle (Erika Fairweather, Eve Thomas), final 7.48am; 6.45am, men’s 50m freestyle final (Cameron Gray)