It was cohesive, slick and fiercely focused. It was as beautiful as it was nerve-wracking. Really, it was everything Anna Meares had described. It was also 20 years in the making.
Two decades between the drinks of a men’s Olympics team pursuit gold, including two losses to Great Britain – those pesky rivals who twice denied them, but would not be allowed to do so again.
At the national velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, an Australian quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien bested the Brits by more than two seconds, winning the decider on Thursday morning AEST in 3:42.067.
It might have been the fast track. It might have been the fast bikes – the $100,000 Factor models developed especially for the Paris 2024 pursuiters. It might have been the psychological edge that comes with having broken the world record 24 hours prior.
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Whatever it was, it was historic for Australian track cycling. A first gold medal since Anna Meares beat her own British rival Victoria Pendleton in the sprint at London 2012.
And it came at a Games where, in the opening three days of the track program alone, the team have already exemplified their pedigree at the velodrome more than throughout the entirety of a hugely disappointing Tokyo 2020 campaign.
Meares, now Australia’s chef de mission, had visited the venue on Tuesday night to watch the quartet’s first-round world record of 3:40.730. She described it as “amazing”.
“They look cohesive, they look slick, they look fiercely focused, and it’s really beautiful to watch,” Meares said. “It’s also nerve-wracking to watch as well.”
