The focus of the Australian Cycling Team has long been the team pursuit – more specifically, the team pursuit at the Olympic Games. In Paris the men have broken the world record in the first round, riding 4,000m in 3:40.730, to reach the ride off for the gold medal against Great Britain on Thursday.
– By Rob Arnold (photos: @UCI_Track, via X)
The men’s team pursuit world record posted in the final of the Tokyo Olympics by Italy has been broken by the Australian quartet in the first round of the Paris Games.
Oliver Bleddyn, Conor Leahy, Kelland O’Brien and Sam Welsford got their campaign off to a flying start during the first day of track competition at the 2024 Olympic Games, posting the fastest time in qualifying (3:42.958), well clear of the next-best quartet, Great Britain’s Daniel Bigham, Ethan Hayter, Ethan Vernon and Oliver Wood (3:43.241).
On day two the times got quicker and, when Australia raced against the defending Olympic champions, Italy, in the first round on Wednesday evening, the world record tumbled after a stunning performance by the Aussies.
The Australians led from the beginning, posting 1:00.595 for the opening kilometre. From there it was a race for time – and gloating – with the Italians never really in contention for the gold medal ride.
As the Australians ticked off the laps, the pace only increased with the world record clearly in their sights by the end of the second kilometre when the Italians were 1.289 behind. At this point, the phenomenal Filippo Ganna was on the front for the gold medallists from Tokyo but not even he could pull back time from the Australians who seemed in complete control.
Down to three riders after 2,500m, the Australia trio who remained closed in on the stunning world record from the Olympic final in Tokyo when Italy beat Denmark with a time of 3:42.0032.
Since the first ‘open’ world championships – in 1993, when ‘pros’ and ‘amateurs’ combined and Australia posted 4:03.840 to win the gold medal – the world record time has dropped steadily, with the Olympics often yielding a new standard.
It was in Sydney 24 years ago that the four-minute barrier was first broken. In the final at the Dunc Gray Velodrome, the German team posted 3:59.710 to win gold (beating Ukraine by almost five seconds). Since then the world record has fallen frequently at Olympic Games.
Australia has won Olympic gold in the team pursuit in 1984 and again in 2004 when they broke the world record in the first round (lapping Lithuania en route to a world record of 3:56.610) to reach the final.
It was in Athens in 2004 that the Australian cycling team enjoyed its biggest medal haul, winning six of the gold medals on offer 20 years ago (across road and track disciplines, and before the arrival of BMX and then BMX freestyle on the Olympic program).
After the Athens Olympics, however, Team GB enjoyed a stunning run of success. Great Britain dominated the team pursuit for over 10 years, winning Olympic gold in Beijing (3:53:314 WR), London (3:51.659 WR), and Rio de Janeiro (3:50.265 WR).
Since the Games in Rio, the team pursuit became a hunting ground for a resurgent Italian team, with the arrival of TT maestro Ganna signalling a notable changing of the guard in an event that made its Olympic debut back in 1908.
Australia broke the world record at the Commonwealth Games of 2018, dropping it below 3:50 for the first time when they posted 3:49.804 to beat England by over five seconds in Brisbane. Then, at the world championships in 2019, the record fell again: Australia in 3:48.012 – with both O’Brien and Welsford firmly entrenched in the line-up that they remain part of in 2024.
For many years the team pursuit was a battle that often featured Australia vs GB but Denmark and Italy muscled their way into the fray, with each of these teams posting new world records in 2020 and 2021 (first the Danes, at the world championships, then the Italians at the Olympic Games).
Meanwhile, the Australian team continued to focus on an event that has become an obsession of the national program… and although often in the mix for medals, it has been one frustrating campaign after another during the reign of the Danes and Italians in recent years.
In 2024 the build-up has been more subdued than ever but the result overnight suggests that the 20-year cycle between gold medals will continue, with Australia now favourites for the title. The fastest qualifiers on Tuesday (when Bleddyn, Leahy, O’Brien and Welsford posted 3:42.958) backed up in round one delivering a stunning ride against Italy in Paris.
The world record has been broken and a gold medal ride awaits. On Wednesday the 16-lap race on the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome saw the Aussies in sensational form, racing the clock more than their opponents and coming out victorious, posting times that highlight the strength of a quartet that has barely earned a mention in pre-Games coverage in Australia.
The final four kilometres of a campaign that has been ongoing for 20 years are yet to be raced but the Australians are in the box seat as they await the showdown against Team GB in Paris. The times from qualifying and the first round suggest the Australians have what it takes to overcome their long-time rivals.
The world record has fallen, and the Australians are riding on a high. The lap times are faster than ever before, and we’ll soon find out if Bleddyn, Leahy, O’Brien and Welsford can finish off the job. Silver or gold awaits and from what we’ve seen in the opening nights of competition on the velodrome in Paris, the Aussies are on track for a third gold medal in the men’s Olympic team pursuit.
– By Rob Arnold
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Publish date : 2024-08-06 23:22:15
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Author : pksportsnews
Publish date : 2024-08-07 07:06:46
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