ARCHIBALD’S GOLDEN DAY IN VELODROME
Cyclist wins individual pursuit while brother John takes silver as Scotland claim five medals on day 2 in Gold Coast
They breed them ambitious and resilient and, above all, ferociously fast on two wheels in the Milngavie branch of the Archibald Clan. The world already knows the potency of Katie with pedals clasped to her formidable feet, from her role in helping the British squad to Olympic team pursuit gold in Rio before snaffling her own world titles in the two years since.
The 24-year-old thundered around the Anna Meares Velodrome in Brisbane yesterday to win the 3000 metres individual pursuit and snare Scotland’s second gold of these Commonwealth Games as the nation ended Day 2 in fourth place in the standings with ten medals in total.
Just as had been forecast here and in the build-up. Yet, watching on with a mix of anxiety and excitement, she speedily morphed from champion to cheerleader as her elder brother John – until recently unheralded and hidden in the shadow of his sibling – landed silver behind England’s Charlie Tanfield in the 4000m individual pursuit to complete quite an evening for the family Down Under.
The former spurred the latter. It was a delicious combination. “I saw Katie in the heat run and the pressure was on her there,” John, three years her senior, said. “I thought, ‘she’s really got to do something special here’, and she did. I was watching her in the pen area and I was all fired up and ready to go. I was delighted with my qualifying ride because that put me in the mix. I’m delighted to get silver, but I wish I had backed it up better in that final ride.”
The younger of the two was as brilliant as billed, beating Australian Rebecca Wiasak in the final after setting a Games record of 3:24.119 in the morning heats. The home favourite led early but the Scot stormed back and then whirled ahead in a blur, eventually victorious by just over a second.
“The crowd was going mental with a kilometre to go – which was only bad news for me,” Katie smiled. “But it’s almost easier to hurt yourself for the win, in your head, than it is to get it back. It’s funny. You get two different types of people in that scenario. I would definitely rather be doing the chasing than be chased. So it was horrible, those last 500 metres, thinking what might happen. I knew I was up. But I didn’t know if I would be able to keep it.”
Yet she did, and gold was the reward. John was also compelled to pursue from behind but could not quite overhaul his 21-year-old rival who had previously earned team pursuit gold and an individual silver at the world championships this season, as well as shattering the Games record in a time of 4:11.455 seconds after it had briefly been held by his ultimately vanquished foe.
“I couldn’t hear Katie screaming this time, but there was a lot of screaming going on in my head,” he revealed. She has toasted many moments of accomplishment but John’s greatest hour could alter his trajectory. Hitherto, he has operated outside British Cycling’s elite system, working part-time in the family bed business while pedalling on the side.
There are pluses to that, he acknowledged. “Katie has got all the pressure. I come in as a bit of an underdog, and everyone goes, ‘oh you’re Katie’s brother.’ I go, ‘yeah, that’s me.’ I’m not sure how much longer I’ll get away with that.”
Both siblings excelled as swimmers in their youth before Katie took the plunge into cycling and never looked back. But a year ago, John fully expected to be sitting back at home this month, burn-
“Long-term, I’ll need to go home and think about what I’m doing. But this has been a great day for me”
JOHN ARCHIBALD
ing midnight oil and urging his illustrious sister onwards from afar. “I don’t think my dad would have left me in charge of the business while he was away,” he joked. “He couldn’t trust me with that.”
But he cannot sit on these laurels if he wants to truly prove his worth, beginning in this weekend’s 15km scratch race. “I’ve got the road races and the time trial next week, so I’ve got a lot to focus on shortterm. Long-term, I’ll need to go back home and think about what I’m doing. But this has been a great day for me.”
Elsewhere, there was silver for Wales’ Lewis Oliva in the men’s keirin with Scotland’s Jack Carlin narrowly missing out on a medal in fourth place as Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer won gold, while compatriot Stephanie Morton defended her women’s sprint title.