CWG 2018: Scottish siblings in rare double as Aussie cyclists hit century
Brisbane, Apr 6 (AFP) Scottish siblings Katie and John Archibald celebrated gold and silver today as hosts Australia reached a landmark 100 Commonwealth Games titles in track cycling.
On the second night at Anna Meares Velodrome in Brisbane, Australia stepped up their dominance, adding two more gold medals to the three they pocketed 24 hours earlier.
But not before the unassuming Archibalds made their mark on the competition.
Katie, 24, a quirky character who enjoys writing and has her own blog, "Bikes and Bobs", is already a team pursuit Olympic gold medallist after winning with Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
She added the Commonwealth 3,000m individual pursuit title to her growing haul after she emphatically beat out Australias Rebecca Wiasak.
Wiasak had the home support roaring her on, but after a fast start Archibald wore her down to win gold in 3mins 26.088sec.
"I knew she had gone out hard, the crowd was going mental," said Archibald, who set a Commonwealth-record 3:24.119 earlier in the day.
"That can only be bad news, really, as Id rather be chased than chase. The last few metres were horrible."
Katies brother John, 27, is a former swimmer who got into track and road cycling after discovering he had a taste for it while commuting to work on his bike.
He took silver behind the 21-year-old Englishman Charlie Tanfield, who streaked home in 4:15.952 to win the 4,000m individual pursuit.
"Seeing Katie win the gold got me going," said John.
"The final was hard and the pressure was on, but she certainly put me in the mix. I just wished I couldve backed it up better."
- Tonight was all adrenaline -
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Australia, resurgent after a disappointing Rio Olympics, sealed a fourth track cycling gold when Stephanie Morton eased to victory in a one-sided womens sprint final.
She defeated Natasha Hansen, a New Zealander who has put her career as an air-traffic controller on hold to focus on her sport.
It was Australias 100th Commonwealth cycling gold and further proof that the failure to win a single gold in Rio two years ago is behind them.
"It is an honour to receive the 100th gold medal for Australia in cycling. This is testament to the great Australian cycling programme," said Morton.
"Tonight was all adrenaline. The crowd was so loud, it was amazing."
The biggest cheer of the night erupted in the final race when Australias sprint world champion Matt Glaetzer obliterated the field in the mens keirin, with Lewis Oliva of Wales taking silver and the Kiwi Edward Dawkins bronze.
Glaetzer, Australias sprint king, paid tribute to his late coach Gary West, who lost his battle with motor neurone disease last year, aged 57.
"The coach was a big loss and had a lot to do with my preparation as an athlete," said Glaetzer, 25.
"He will always be part of the sprint team."