Australian power in Games cycling

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33444, 28 January 1974, Page 20

Australian power in Games cycling

I By

R. M. CAIRNS)

Australians walked tall at Denton Park last evening. The youthful pursuit rider. Gary Sutton barely out of junioi janks - reached the semi-finals of the series, and all three of the conntry's sprinters are in the final eight-

I And the best of these —and surely destined to he ranked again the best in the Commonwealth—is John Nicholson. He became the fastest sprinter to be seen in New (Zealand —and the Common-’ iwealth Games—when he was (timed at 11.265ec in his ■third-round match against | the Englishman. Geoff Cooke. Nicholson’s time easily' beat the New Zealand record. ;of 11.5 sec and narrowly! i bettered the Games mark of: |ll.3sec set by the Trinidad-

ian, Roger Gibbon, in Kingston in 1966. There is an extremely 'classy field of sprinters to icontest the quarter-finals this evening. As well as Nich ilson. Australia will be represented bv Greg Barnes and Greg Williams; New Zealand has Brvce Preston and Paul Medhurst: the Caribbean is represented by Xavier Mirander (Jamaica) and lan Atherley i Trinidad and Tobago): and England by Ernie Crutchlow. England has the weight of numbers in the individual, pursuit semi-finals. lan, Hallam, like Nicholson, is de-, fending his title, and Willi

Moore will dispute the medal* with Sutton and Blair Stockwell (New Zealand) LUCKY MEDHIRSr But of all those in the latter stages of the two competitions, the most incredible progress has been made bv Medhurst. The peculiarities • the sprint series and its seemingly never-ending repechages meant that Medhurst could be beaten three times vet still progress to the quarterfinals. One of those who beat him. Mirander, is fast attracting as large and enthusiastic a following as Nicholson. A tremendously fast finisher, he showed all his blazing speed in the straight in the third round against Williams when he gave him three length* start just before the final 200 m. but got the decision in a photo-finish. HALLAM IN TROUBLE There was little of critical moment in the qualifying

rounds of the individual pursuit. except for the poten-tially-serious puncture of one of Hallam’s tyres. He was only 230 m from the finish of the 4000 m event and assured of a handsome win of his team-mate, Moore, and possibly a time to match that of Stockwell. The tyre burst, Hallam hesitated, dithered, decided to go on—as he had to—and still man-

aged the fourth fastest time Stockwell was a most impressive fastest-qualifier. lifted by his home crowd to a smin B.96sec ride —only a shade slower than his best on the track. Similarly, he was urged on desperately by the partisan spectators in his quarter-final ride against the kilometre champion, DickParis (Australia). TRACK RECORD They vocally willed him to catch the strapping New South Welshman. Stockwell just failed to do so, and although he was again under smin lOsec. Hallam did a storming smin 4.125 e— a track record by more than 4sec. He retained his outright favouritism for the pursuit crown he won in Edinburgh, and Stockwell’s chances of beating him have improved markedly by his drawing Moore. They met in Edinburgh too. in the quarter-finals, and Stockwell was the victor then. If he repeats that victory, Moore—the perennial runner-up to Hallam—will undoubtedly be riding for the bronze medal against the 18-year-old Sutton. But there will be keen interest in whether Sutton can repeat the performances

of the Australian 18-year-old at Edinburgh, Danny Clark. As unknown outside his homeland then as Sutton is now, Clark was stem opposition for Hallam in that final But it would be expecting an awful lot of his successor, coincidentally a Clark, to go even better.