Australia’s Grace Brown and Rohan Dennis Complete Commonwealth Cycling Clean Sweep | Commonwealth Games 2022

As Grace Brown was preparing for the first leg of Australia’s clean sweep, Commonwealth Games The individual time trials put a rigorous focus on the challenges ahead. British rider Hayley Simmons, who won bronze on the Gold Coast four years ago and now works as a commentator during her injury, perfectly described the event’s demands.

“It’s called the Race of Truth,” Simmons told the BBC. “At the end of the day, the pain in your leg and the only thing you think about in your head is you. You can’t hide behind your teammate.

By mid-afternoon on Thursday at the complex course in Wolverhampton’s Black Country, the evidence was clear. Brown was by far the strongest woman. And Rohan Dennis, his two-time world champion in this discipline, finally became the Commonwealth’s champion with his time of 46:21.20, where early strength and speed mattered.

In both races the British rider finished second. But it’s been generous for silver medalists Anna Henderson and Fred Jones. In reality, there was daylight behind the Australian champion. Both gold medalists had plenty of time to consider their thoughts in the second half of the time trial.

Brown was over 33 seconds clear and Dennis fell behind after winning the field, which included 2018 Tour de France champion Geraint Jones, by just over 26 seconds.

in the meantime Australian netballers suffer shock defeat to Jamaica On the seventh day of the Birmingham game, Brown and Dennis rode well and justified their favor. At the Tokyo Olympics, where he finished fourth, watching Brown draw rival after rival on the track was like watching Pac-Man mow down ghosts in his old-school arcade game. The 30-year-old chewed them up and charged in pursuit of his next target, his 28.8 km course winding, undulating and tactically complex where he led to victory in 40:05.20.

“The team didn’t tell me I was ahead until the last five kilometers, so I thought any news was not good news,” she said.

Brown started cycling later than the others. Growing up in the Victorian town of Camperdown, the gateway to the Otway Mountains and the Great Ocean Her Road, she headed off to boarding school in a big smoke as a teenager.

In Melbourne she was a good athlete. Her long distance she went. She was fast enough to compete at the national level, but her body wasn’t designed for the rigors of long-distance running.

But her discipline in training, combined with the independence she gained from leaving home early, served Brown well when she jumped on the bike in her early twenties. and pro-level wins began to flow. With the rider now Australian, Brown was the clear choice to win here.

Well before she crossed the line it was clear that the pre-race favorite was running very well. “I had a target on my back. I didn’t take too much pressure to be the favorite, I just kept calm and focused on what I had to do,” she said.

Dennis won a silver medal at the 2014 Glasgow event. This year, he won the World Championship for the second time in a row, starting with his 1st in the team his time his trials. He added his personal successes to his illustrious career with successes at Innsbruck and Yorkshire in 2018 and his 2019. He won a bronze medal last year in Tokyo. But he wanted to win a gold medal in a major competition and stand alone on the podium.

“Finally, I took the top step. [me] 12 years from Delhi. “The Olympics was my first individual medal at the Olympics, so it’s hard to beat.” “But being on the top tier of it is a different feeling. It’s a little hard to compare. It’s special either way.”

At Alexander Stadium, para wheelchair star Madison de Rosario added to her thrilling racing success in last week’s marathon with the T54 1500m to win her second gold medal.

The 28-year-old, who won the Gold Coast double four years ago, beat compatriot Angie Ballard in a tactical race to become the first Australian para-athlete to win four gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. .

Australia’s world champion Eleanor Patterson and compatriot Nicola Orislagers cleared 1.81 m on their first jump to qualify for Saturday’s final. Oliver Hoare was also the fastest qualifier in the morning session with a time of 3:37.57 in the men’s 1500m final.

However, there was a disappointment for Stewart McSwain who failed to start after being ill with the flu. His fellow Australians Kathryn Mitchell and Ash Moloney were also forced to sit out due to illness, while Kelsey Lee Barber was allowed to compete after recovering from Covid-19 .

Sarah Edminston won silver in the women’s F44 discus and has been a strong performer in international competition since 2017.

Elsewhere, China-born diver Shixin Li won the silver medal. Behind England’s Commonwealth Games standard bearer Jack Lougher Show off a splendid performance in the 1m springboard dive. The 34-year-old posted his overall score of 437.05 points, 10 points ahead of his three gold medalists in the Commonwealth Games.