Dramatic day sees Home Nations bag ten medals at Games
The home nations delivered a dramatic day at the velodrome, with ten medals including Wales’ sensational first gold, four silver and five bronze.
Men’s Tandem B sprint
The result of the night was a gold for Wales’ tandem duo of James Ball and Matt Rotherham, who fought off five-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Neil Fachie and pilot Lewis Stewart to get to the top of the podium. The Welsh duo took a glorious two-nil win in the gold medal race, taking them straight to the top of the podium.
Men’s 15km Scratch Race
A nail-biting men’s scratch race qualifying heat ended in a dramatic, multi-rider crash that saw England’s Matt Walls go over the barrier and into the crowd. Walls was later discharged from hospital with stitches and scratches and bruises, as was the Isle of Man’s Matt Bostock, while the crash left Scotland’s Kyle Gordon unable to compete in the final. Two spectators were injured but were cared for by the venue’s medical team.
In the hotly-anticipated final Wales’ Will Roberts got in the right move, at the right time, which resulted in a bronze for Team Wales.
But it was Scotland’s John Archibald who put in a show-stopping performance beating off the competition to take home the silver; a medal which saw Team Scotland win its most medals in one day ever in a Commonwealth Games.
Men’s Sprint
Jack Carlin took bronze in the men’s sprint after judges overturned a two-one defeat in his bronze race final and relegated opponent Matthew Glaetzer for knocking into the Scot on the bend in the final race.
Women’s Tandem B 1000m Time Trial
It was smiles all round for Team England’s Sophie Unwin and pilot Georgia Holt who stormed to a silver medal with a 1000m TT time of 1:07.554. Racing third in their heat, they managed to hold on as Scotland’s Aileen McGlynn took to the track after them, finishing in 1:07.578 with pilot Ellie Stone, to take the bronze medal.
On the silver medal win, Unwin said: “The crowd were behind us and to do it in this velodrome with this crowd at a home Games is amazing. We wanted to come here to get on the podium and we did exactly what we wanted.”
Women’s 25km Scratch Race
In the women’s 25km scratch race, England’s Josie Knight took a lap early on in the race, earning her 20 points, but didn’t manage to make any further moves in the later sprint races and finished in sixth place overall.
But it was success for the other home nations as Scotland’s Neah Evans took a lap, along with multiple other sprint points to take silver, while Wales’ Eluned King stayed on her heels the whole way to take bronze.
Women’s 500m Time Trial
After being the eighth rider to set a time, it was a tense wait for Sophie Capewell as she waited for team mates and rivals to put their times down before finding out she had won a bronze medal in the women’s 500m Time Trial with a time of 33.522 seconds, delivering another medal for Team England.
Racing at the LeeValley Velopark concludes tomorrow with the men’s 1,000m time trial, women’s keirin, men’s 40km points race and women’s 10km scratch race.
Header image: James Ball and Matt Rotherham ahead of Lewis Stewart and Neil Fachie, Birmingham 2022, Commonwealth Games, Track and Para Track Cycling – Lee Valley Velopark, London. Credit: Will Palmer/SWpix.com