Men win team sprint gold, women take team pursuit

Australia have won the men’s team sprint and women’s team pursuit gold medal is a solid start to the Commonwealth Games track cycling program.

The men lost their Ashes team pursuit final to England and the women’s team sprint combination finished fourth.

Olympic medallist Leigh Hoffman combined with Ryan Elliott and Daniel Barber to clock 42.455 seconds in the team sprint gold medal ride after qualifying fastest.

They were only .045 of a second quicker in qualifying, but dominated the final as England clocked 43.032 for silver.

Hoffman was supposed to go up in the match sprint against former teammate Matt Richardson, who sensationally defected to Great Britain after Paris and was to ride for England in Glasgow.

But Richardson, one of the biggest stories of these Games, pulled out on the eve of the track cycling after he crashed in a round of the Japan keirin series.

There was drama in the men’s team sprint ride-off for bronze when Wales did not start, handing third place to Trinidad and Tobago.

Australia won three of the seven gold medals on day one of the track program, with Tara Neyland also dominating the C4-C5 3000m team pursuit.

England gained some revenge for the Paris Olympics in the men’s team pursuit, where Australia had beaten Great Britain in a pulsating final two years ago for the gold medal.

After qualifying fastest, Olympic champions Oliver Bleddyn and Conor Leahy partnered with Blake Agnoletto and James Moriarty for the men’s team pursuit final.

England pulled away late and won in three minutes 47.092 seconds, breaking the Games record, and Australia clocked 3:48.223.

The Australian women successfully defended their Games title, overhauling New Zealand and breaking their own Commonwealth Games record.

Sophie Edwards came out of the pursuit quartet who also qualified fastest and three-time Games gold medallist Georgia Baker took her place.

Felicity Wilson-Haffenden, Claudia Marcks and Alyssa Polites joined Baker in comfortably beating New Zealand for the gold medal.

Australia rode 4:10.658 and New Zealand clocked 4:12.775.

“Bloody awesome – I couldn’t ask for much more. We came in here wanting to win gold, but it’s easier said than done,” said women’s coach Ash Ankudinoff, a former team pursuit world champion.

“We made up a good plan and the girls executed it to an absolute ‘T’.

“It’s an exciting bunch. I never cracked an Olympic medal, but we have a good bunch.

“It’s just a step in the right direction – look out LA and we’re excited for the next two years.”

Ankudinoff lauded Wilson-Haffenden, a former junior time trial world champion on the road, a massive engine for the Australian team.

“She’s an incredible asset to the team. I remember going to the junior worlds with her as a coach,” Ankudinoff said.

“To watch her grow into an incredible bike rider, I’m excited for what she can do, not only in two years but maybe towards Brisbane.”

Kane Perris and his pilot Luke Zaccaria won bronze in the men’s tandem B 1km time trial, while Scotland delighted the crowd by winning the first gold of the track program in the event ahead of Wales.

Para-sport veteran Jess Gallagher, with Jacqueline Mengler-Mohr piloting, took silver behind New Zealand in the women’s tandem B sprint.

Molly McGill, Kristina Clonan and Alessia McGaig were fourth-fastes qualifiers in the women’s team sprint and lost their bronze ride-off to Scotland, as Wales beat England for gold.

Commonwealth Games Australia