KING CROWNS PERFECT DAY
AN emotional Eluned King revelled in payback time as she scooped track cycling bronze at the Commonwealth Games.
It was a brilliant day for Welsh riders at a packed London velodrome that had earlier been scarred by a horrific crash involving English rider Matt Walls in morning scratch race heats.
Remarkably, the Olympic omnium champion suffered no major injuries other than stitches to his forehead, scrapes and bruises after being thrown over barriers and into the crowd.
Team Wales shone when the action got under way, with Ponthir’s James Ball winning the country’s first gold of the Games with victory in the tandem sprint.
Then two medals followed in bunch races, with King bagging points race bronze and William Roberts taking bronze in the scratch race.
King hails from Swansea but made her name as a teenage rider of enormous potential with Carmarthen’s Towy Riders cycling club.
She picked up 32 points in intermediate sprints to pip Canada’s Maggie Coles-lyster to the podium for her maiden major international medal.
She said: “I’m not the fastest and I’m not the strongest, so I needed to use my head more than anything else.
“I just followed the moves and didn’t overthink it.
“I have a great support network and they’ve been incredible, so this is their medal, not mine.
“I wasn’t strong enough to compete with Georgia (Baker) and Neah (Evans).
“They’re so cool, calm and collected and I couldn’t believe I was up there with them.”
King has endures a turbulent year on the road, joining a new trade team in Le Col-wahoo. She contracted Covid over Christmas and was involved in a serious crash in Europe over Easter.
A tearful King added: “I’ve put my head down, chipped away and worked hard.
“My parents, friends and family have all believed in me and the whole team.
“I don’t really say when I’m suffering but it’s probably been the hardest few months of my life and I’m just really grateful.”
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