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Australia has wrapped up the final day of track cycling with a bronze medal in the sprint at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, south west of Paris.
It was the fifth medal for the Australian cyclists, who also claimed three gold and a silver medal to finish fourth on the velodrome medal table behind Great Britain (five gold, six silver and three bronze) ahead of China (three gold and three silver), with home nation France collecting three gold, two silver and two bronze.
On Sunday the Australian trio of Gordon Allan (C2), Alistair Donohoe (C5) and Korey Boddington (C4) clocked 49.036 for the open C1-5 750m event downing France (49.961) in the head to head battle for bronze.
“I knew it was going well after our qualifying ride and we were all on fire so we said we’ve just got to rip it and send it, and what will be, will be,” said Allan, for whom this is a first Paralympic medal. “We’ve just been getting quicker and quicker and quicker and this is such a great, great feeling.”
The packed stadium was screaming for the home team but the Aussies had other ideas.
“As we crossed the line the silence was really deafening and I sort of felt bad trying to salute to a crowd that was so disappointed and I had to really pick out the Aussies in the stands,” laughed Donohoe who, as an endurance specialist, admits he felt the pressure of delivering for his sprinter teammates.
“I am so nervous for this event, because I know how fast these boys can go and being the enduro on the squad I’m like, ‘Can I hold on? Can I rip it? Can I deliver?’,” explained Donohoe, who rode second wheel behind Gordon. “I was lucky I managed to hang on to Gordo who has such a rapid start, and then I just got out the way for Korey to deliver the win.”
It’s the second medal of the Games for Boddington, who opened the cycling team’s medal assault with gold in the C4-5 1000m time trial and was delighted to be racing in the team event.
“Gordo was so quick out of the gate. Man, his shadow was back in the corner,” Boddington said. “I was thinking, Al, you better get on cause he’s zooming.
“Then we had the perfect crossover to change to Al and he was flying and then coming out of the corner. I don’t know what came over me, but I thought, I better stand up to come past him, because he was going so fast.”
The trio was half a second faster than in their qualifying round but the Great Britain team in 47.738 was in a class of their own to claim gold ahead of Spain (49.564) in second place.
In the B tandem 1000m time trial Kane Perris and pilot Luke Zaccaria clocked an Australian record time of 1:00.374 to qualify third fastest for the final but knew they would need to crack one minute to score a medal.
Their finals ride of 1:00.940 wasn’t what they’d hoped for and put them in fourth, 1.1 seconds off the bronze medal.
“Finishing fourth is always heartbreaking, but I think over the coming hours, days and weeks, I’ll be feeling pretty proud of what we’ve done out here,” said Perris. “It’s been a big journey and a big couple of years.”
Perris’ hopes of selection for Tokyo were dashed due to a back injury, then on debut at the world championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in March a crash left him with a shoulder injury, three broken ribs, and a punctured lung.
“It took a little while to come back from that and build confidence back on the bike so to come out and break a national record and then finish fourth, I think over time, I’ll feel okay, but right now, right now, it is heartbreaking to miss a medal,” said Perris, who made is Paralympic Games debut in Paris joining his elder brother Chad, who is contesting his third Games.
Zaccaria said what hurts most is knowing they can ride faster but not today.
“I feel devastated for the team and as athletes, I know we’re our own harshest critics, but I really wanted to do this for Kane and come away with the medal, and we are capable of that, we definitely were, so it’s just heartbreaking.”
Alana Forster was also on the boards for a competition hit out in the C5 3000m individual pursuit leading up to this week’s road events which are her focus. She had hoped to break the four-minute barrier and did that with ease clocking a personal best time of 3:41.497 to finish in fifth place.
In the B tandem 3000m pursuit Jessica Gallagher and pilot Caitlin Ward, who took home silver in the B 1000m time trial, finished out of the medals in seventh spot after posting 3:46.294 in the first round of today’s 3000m pursuit event.
On Friday Emily Petricola defended her Games crown and broke her own world record on the way to winning the C4 3000m individual pursuit and on Saturday Amanda Reid also staged a successful defence of her Tokyo title to go back to back in the C1-3 500m time trial.
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By: Gennie Sheer, Paralympics Australia
Published: 2 September 2024
