Hayden Roulston today won only the third cycling medal in New Zealand’s Olympic history.
Roulston took the silver medal in the 4000m men’s individual pursuit, meaning he follows in the footsteps of previous Olympic medallists Gary Anderson (bronze, 1992) and Sarah Ulmer (gold, 2004).
Following Roulston’s exciting example, Alison Shanks earned a ride-off tomorrow for the bronze medal. Only points rider Greg Henderson of the New Zealand riders left the velodrome disappointed today. Henderson was bitterly disappointed by his 10th placing in the points race, in which he had strong hopes of taking a medal.
Roulston was extremely fast in his first round ride today, being timed in 4 min 19.232s, which earned him a finals spot. The fastest rider was the brilliant Great Britain rider Bradley Wiggins, who qualified with a sizzling 4min 16.571s, but Roulston had a safety margin of more than two seconds over Steven Burke of Britain, the third-fastest.
In the final, Roulston almost replicated his earlier time, this time recording 4min 19.611s, but he was outclassed by Wiggins, who turned in a 4min 16.977s.
“I tried to have a go at him,” said Roulston. “We went with similar tactics but with bigger gearing and I wanted to go a point or two faster each lap. I gave it a crack and had him under some pressure for a while.
“Hey! I’ve got an Olympic silver medal and three rides of 4min 19s or better. You’ve got to be happy with that. I’ll definitely be back in 2012 for another crack.”
The performance continues a remarkable comeback for Roulston, who retired on medical advice in 2006, when tests revealed a life-threatening heart condition.
Cardiologists at Christchurch Hospital said he had arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia, which left him short of breath and with an irregular heart-beat. In the stress of a race, it was felt the illness was life-threatening, so he announced his immediate retirement from the sport.
However, a chance meeting with a woman in a café led him towards the practice of reiki, a Japanese hands-on healing process, and he is now a devout follower, convinced it saved his career.
Shanks recorded 3min 32.478s in her first-round ride, which was two seconds faster than her qualifying ride, which had also been a personal best.
She claimed fourth spot and tomorrow will ride off against Ukrainian Lesya Kalitovaka for the bronze medal.
Shanks, a representative netballer and basketballer, made the decision to focus on her cycling and the decision certainly paid off today.
“My training indicated that a 3min 32s was possible and to bring my PB down by a further two seconds is great,” said an extremely happy Shanks. “The aim was to get into the top eight and now I’m in the bronze medal ride. It’s all a bonus for me from here.”
In the points race, Henderson, one of the pre-race favourites and a former scratch race world champion, was devastated at finishing 10th . He scored 13 points, compared to Spaniard Joan Llaneras, the world champion, who won with 60.
Henderson was in three key breaks that never turned into crucial field-lapping 20-pointers and was therefore never able to threaten the leaders.
He ended up as the second-highest scoring rider not to lap the field.
“I have to go back and reflect on what went wrong,” said Henderson. “I was so confident that I had the form of my life. I was in a couple of really good moves that got shut down and when I was recovering at the top of the banking, the move would go and I’d miss it again.
“I have to pick my chin up and come out fighting on Tuesday in the madison.”