From devastation to elation: Stewart’s ‘amazing’ 24 hours
Track cyclist Campbell Stewart has experienced the whole spectrum of emotions at the Tokyo Olympics.
From heartbreak to ‘‘the top of the world’’, Stewart proved to be a more than capable fill-in for the men’s omnium, winning a silver medal 24 hours after team-mate Aaron Gate broke his collarbone in a heavy crash.
That crash ended New Zealand’s hopes of winning a bronze medal in the team pursuit as well as Gate’s entire Olympic campaign, and saw Stewart thrust into the action for the four-event race yesterday.
But with Gate cheering on trackside, Stewart pulled off an incredible finish in the points race, getting in a three-man breakaway and lapping the field, to launch himself into second place overall behind Great Britain’s Matthew Walls.
Reflecting on his past 24 hours, the 23-year-old from Manawatu¯ said it had been a real rollercoaster.
‘‘The heartbreak and the emotion you get [at the Olympics] is just on a whole other level,’’ Stewart said.
‘‘You put so much work into the Olympics and if you want another shot it’s– well, it’s three years now – but normally you’ve got another four years and people are going to go in another direction.
‘‘So to be able to pull it off and to change that emotion from being pretty gutted and devastated to on top of the world and feeling pretty amazed. It’s crazy what 24 hours can do, and what it can do to a full team and hopefully a country.’’
New Zealand had arrived in Tokyo with hopes of winning a gold medal in the men’s team pursuit but missed out on the gold medal race despite posting a time two seconds faster than the previous world record as Italy went another 0.090 seconds quicker.
On track for another fast time, disaster then struck when they were leading Australia in the bronze medal race. Gate clipped Jordan Kerby’s back wheel and fell heavily on the boards, breaking his right collarbone and ending the race.
‘‘That was probably one of the most emotional parts – the fact that the day before we had this whole scenario planned that we were all going to go out there, do a fast time and hopefully win that bronze medal, and didn’t quite go our way,’’ Stewart said.
‘‘They gave me the call-up and I was out there riding for the whole team, not just Aaron but everyone in the whole squad that has worked so far.
‘‘Words can’t describe what I was feeling for him and for our team.’’
Stewart’s silver medal in the men’s omnium came hot on the heels of Ellesse Andrews’ stunning second in the women’s keirin final.
There could be more to come from Stewart, who will be paired with Corbin Strong in the men’s madison on today after Gate’s injuries also ruled him out of the two-person event.
Strong is the current world champion in the points race and Stewart backed the rising star to step up.
‘‘He came onto the world stage in 2020 and he went out of that points race, it was 160 laps long and he dominated every lap of that,’’ Stewart said.
‘‘He’s a racer, he’s got impressive instincts and impressive skills, so he’s going to go out and we’re going to try and work as well together as possible, which I know we can.’’