Now the dust has settled on an unbelievably successful Commonwealth Games, for both our cyclists and the wider Team Scotland squad, we thought we’d reflect on some of the highlights from Birmingham 2022.
By the time Finn Crockett, a Commonwealth Games debutant, sprinted to bronze on a boiling hot final day of cycling action in Warwickshire, our cycling team had already equalled the 10 medals they won on the Gold Coast. Crockett’s screams of delight on finding out he’d snatched bronze in a photo-finish, captured the team’s mood perfectly.
That duo of road race medals, Neah Evans having won silver in the Women’s race earlier in the day, took the cycling team’s Commonwealth Games tally to 11 medals, more than any other Games.
Without any focused road race preparation, the superb silver won by Evans was a sublime end to her Birmingham 2022 campaign, in which she become the most decorated Scottish female cyclist at a single Games with three medals, that silver adding to the silver and bronze medals she won on the track in the Points Race and Individual Pursuit respectively.
Read the full road race recap here.
For the cycling team, the action began in London at the Lee Valley Velopark, the track action taking place in the UK capital in the absence of a velodrome in Birmingham.
Neil Fachie MBE set the tone for the Games on the opening night, becoming the most decorated Scottish athlete in Commonwealth Games history, as he and pilot Lewis Stewart won Team Scotland’s first gold of the Games.
Lining up in the Men’s B Tandem 1000m Time Trial, Fachie, this time riding with Stewart, started as defending champion and was last to go, having just moments earlier witnessed the Welsh pair break the Commonwealth Games record.
But commeth the hour, commeth the men, who with saltires across their chests, stepped up when it mattered most. Two tenths down through the opening split, that gap hadn’t changed by halfway, but suddenly, finding another gear it started to come down, and with a lap to go, swung the other way.
At this point the volume went up another few decibels, and roared home, Fachie and Stewart left everything out there. Collapsing as they were helped from their bikes, it was clear they couldn’t have done any more.
With gold medals around their necks, and a Games record of 59.938 to boot, Fachie said:
“This is pretty special. It’s genuinely mind blowing. Eight years ago in Glasgow – I didn’t think I’d still be here. I’ve been ill all week so the preparation hasn’t been great – you can hear it from my voice – but I still had the legs. It’s thanks to this man on the front of the bike.
“Coming into that final lap you know it’s do or die. You can hear the crowd and I gave it everything I had. It really, really hurt, but it’s so worth it when you get to stand on the top of that podium.”
It was also a night to remember for Aileen McGlynn MBE, another of Team Scotland’s most decorated para-athletes, as she secured a splendid silver in the Women’s B Tandem Sprint alongside debutant, Ellie Stone.
From here the medals would flow, a track brace from Evans matched by double Olympic medallist Jack Carlin, who would win silver in the Keirin and bronze in the Sprint; after that second medal an emotional Carlin would confess:
“I lost a lot of love for the sport after the Olympics, quite considerably. And it’s not been an easy four or five months, not at all. I almost became a robot when it came to training.
“But going up to Scotland, training with the Scottish team, I can’t thank Scottish Cycling and the Scottish Institute of Sport enough for the support, for believing me, bringing me back to a point where I enjoy riding my bike and enjoy racing. I feel my mojo is coming back to me.
“It’s been a hard couple of months but I’m starting to feel like myself again. Riding in front of a home crowd, it didn’t matter that I’m Scottish. They got behind me. I feel like I’ve fallen in love with the sport again.”
Fachie and Stewart added a further medal, scooping silver in the Men’s Tandem B Sprint, whilst John Archibald backed up a medal in 2018 with another in 2022, this time silver in the Scratch Race after terrific support from Mark Stewart – that pair would also come agonisingly close to silverware in the Points race, before supporting Crockett’s road race bronze.
Finishing the track competition third on the medal table was a remarkable achievement for the team, but there were a whole heap of other encouraging performances, from personal bests to fourth and fifth place finishes, indicating that the future is bright for Scottish Cycling.
Director of Performance and Coaching, David Somerville, noted:
“It's been a good week of competition for us with some great performances and it's nice to win some medals at the end, but we’re also pleased with a lot of the performances that didn't get on the podium as well. We’re now looking forward to the rest of the Games, where we've still got medal chances in mountain biking and on the road, so we'll see where we get to by day ten.”
And Somerville was right, those road medals the icing on the cake. It would be remiss to not mention a pair of valiant mountain bike performances too. Whilst both Charlie Aldridge and Isla Short went into the Games with their sights set on medals, they could be proud of their efforts even though they didn’t materialise.
Short rode an aggressive race, battling for a medal throughout, leading the group chasing World Champion Evie Richards, who would ride away to gold – in the end she had to settle for fourth, the worst position of all. For Aldridge, his Games debut was just as painful, as looking on course for bronze, a crash resulted in a snapped rear derailleur taking him out of contention. We have no doubt that pair will bounce back though, and you’d be foolish to bet against them in Victoria in four years’ time.
11 medals, a seemingly endless list of quality performances, and a million memories.
To everyone who supported the team along the way, thank you.
