Australia’s unluckiest Olympian final has his medal.
A bronze medal won by Australia’s men’s team sprint track cycling team represented the first of any colour won by veteran Matthew Glaetzer, who snapped a cruel streak of finishing fourth in four previous Olympic finals.
Glaetzer, Leigh Hoffman and Matthew Richardson took on France in the bronze medal race and were behind in the first lap before overhauling their rivals with some daring riding over the final two laps to stop the clock 0.396 seconds ahead. It is the nation’s first medal in the event since 2000.
Glaetzer, 31, is three-time world champion and a five-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist. He has battled thyroid cancer in 2019 and a host of injuries — including tearing his calf in 2020 — and also lost his former coach Gary West to motor neurone disease in 2017.
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PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 06: Bronze medalists Matthew Glaetzer, Leigh Hoffman and Matthew Richardson of Team Australia pose on the podium after the Men’s Team Sprint – Finals on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on August 06, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesAustralia’s Matthew Glaetzer celebrates after winning the men’s track cycling team sprint final for bronze of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, south-west of Paris, on August 6, 2024. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)Source: AFP
The South Australian featured in the last three agonising team misses and also finished fourth in the individual event in Rio and Wednesday’s (AEST) bronze was a reward for his sheer perseverance and resilience.
“I’ve had so much heartbreak in Olympic finals,” Glaetzer said.
“Every Olympic final I’ve been in, it’s been gut-wrenching.
“The last Olympics caused me to question whether I wanted to keep riding and, geez, I’m glad I stuck it out and finally got the monkey off my back.
“We’ve kind of done it for the Aussie teams before us, I’ve been part of a lot of them.
“We just know how hard it is and the history behind it – us getting pipped every single time and we just didn’t want to live that again.”
Glaetzer spoke prior to the Games about his health battle being his biggest challenge.
“The thyroid cancer was a big one, that was a pretty testing time for me on and off the bike,” he told the AOC.
“I try to put everything into perspective and it reminds me how fickle life is and how we can get so hung up on the small stuff.
“That was a challenging, and at times very scary period for me but it has given me so much clarity and perspective about what’s really important in life.”
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The bronze medal-winning performance in the sprint event came as Australia’s men sent a huge statement in the team pursuit by setting a new world record. Australia beat Italy in 3:40.730 to dismantle the previous mark of 3:42.032 and make the gold medal race.
That was set by Italy on their way to the title in Tokyo in the most prestigious event of the track cycling programme.
The Australian team of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien will meet Britain for gold in the final, to be raced at 2.33am AEST Thursday morning.
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com.au/olympics/paris-olympics-2024-track-cycling-matthew-glaetzer-wins-first-medal/news-story/55f895c2873ebe431ce346625eb24001
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Publish date : 2024-08-07 00:39:00
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