“Now to bring home a medal for Australia, it was a lot of relief. I’m just so proud of the team I’m a part of. Couldn’t have done it without them. We stuck together … we’ve done it for the Aussie teams before us. I’ve been part of a lot of them, and we just know how hard it is and the history behind it of us getting pipped every single time. We just didn’t want to live that again – I did not want to live that again.”
The team sprint was added to the Olympic program at Sydney 2000 where Australia claimed bronze. Since then – and despite strong pedigree – Australia’s men finished fourth at the five subsequent Games. Tuesday night could have marked a sixth in succession, but for a last-minute, risky order change for the final.
Relief for Matthew Glaetzer after the bronze medal ride.Credit: AP
In the heat an hour earlier, Australia had lost valuable time when Glaetzer, riding as third man, struggled to catch second man Richardson in time for the changeover. It might have cost them a spot in the gold-medal race (the Netherlands beat Great Britain in world-record time).
“I felt a lot of pressure, personally, because I was the one who couldn’t catch up with the horsepower in front of me,” Glaetzer said. “We are playing with such thin margins, and to have the gap that I had to Richo just wasn’t what we needed for a good team time.
“I told the coach that if we try that again, I don’t think it was going to be the result we wanted. So the coach posed the change and I’m like ‘yep, that’s what we need to do’. So we rode positions that we haven’t been training in this whole Olympic cycle, in the one race that matters the most, and we absolutely ripped it.”
Glaetzer took Hoffman’s place out of the gates, then Hoffman followed and Richardson wrapped it up.
It capped quite a session at the track for Australia, who, two days into the Paris program, have already ensured more success than in the entirety of an underwhelming Tokyo campaign remembered most for Alex Porter’s snapped handlebar in the men’s team pursuit qualifying. The eventual bronze in that event was the only medal.
Matthew Glaetzer (right) celebrates bronze alongside teammate Matthew Richardson.Credit: Getty Images
Already, here, they are guaranteed at least two. The Australian men’s team pursuit quartet set up a gold medal ride-off with Great Britain by breaking the world record to defeat reigning champions Italy. Team GB beat Australia to gold in London and Rio.
Having already qualified fastest on Monday, Olympic medallists Sam Welsford and Kelland O’Brien combined with debutants Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn to clock 4:40.730. It is the first time Australia have held the record in five years.
“To take on the Brits again, for me, it’s that redemption from the 2016 Olympics,” said Welsford, who rose in Rio. “It’s a really nice opportunity. It’s going to be a big ride tomorrow. The plan was just to get the job done, really. Ultimately, the goal is to win on the third … the world record is a massive bonus for us.”
Also on Tuesday, Australia’s women’s team pursuit qualified sixth-fastest in a national record.
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Source link : https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/cycling-s-unluckiest-man-has-finally-won-bronze-20240807-p5k07b.html
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Publish date : 2024-08-06 22:28:04
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