Emotions ride high under a steely Gaze
Everyone was set to celebrate another New Zealand Commonwealth Games mountainbiking quinella.
Then Sam Gaze’s fingers and mouth got a wagging and things took an ugly turn.
He lashed Anton Cooper for a perceived lack of sportsmanship, inferring he felt Cooper should not have attacked when he had to head to the pits with a rear wheel puncture heading into the last lap.
He would later apologise to Cooper in person and to the public via social media, but the damage was done.
Gaze’s words weren’t just about the race or the last-lap puncture. This was about four years of angst he has felt after feeling he was robbed of gold when Cooper won at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.
The pair don’t like each other. That was the word going into the race and was proven afterwards.
Barely a word was spoken between the pair. A customary handshake was given and they posed for the obligatory photos, but tension was rife. There were no hugs or big congratulations offered, as other Kiwi athletes have done when team-mates have beaten them this Games.
Cooper said he felt there was nothing wrong with what he did, and he’s probably right.
In road racing, a mid-race puncture of a leading rider might lead to the peloton waiting for them, but in the last few kilometres, as the two rivals were yesterday, the peloton would wait for no-one. You can’t just stop the race.
Whatever the case, the post-race feud did leave a sour taste after what was an enthralling race.
What does need to be mentioned is that Gaze made his comments immediately after the race in what is called the ‘‘mixed zone’’. He had already been past the cameras and microphones of TVNZ, NZME and the BBC before he reached this writer. Perhaps the post-race frustration had built to a point where he just let rip. Interviewing sportspeople right after emotional wins, either happy or frustrated, can often bring out raw responses.
So while Gaze deserves criticism for his antics during the race and after, try not to jump on the bloke too much. This was a hugely emotional moment for him . . . and that emotion boiled over.