Cyclists’ agonising wait

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 20

Cyclists’ agonising wait

From

JANE DAVIDSON,

in Edinburgh

The Wanganui cyclist, Gary Anderson, and his Australian rival, Martin Vinnicombe, had an agonising wait at the end of yesterday’s kilometre time trial at the Meadowbank velodrome before officials and time keepers finally worked out Anderson had the silver medal and Vinnicombe the gold. Anderson, the tenth rider to compete in a field of 26, clocked Imin 6.33 s for a smooth impressive ride on a track plagued by nagging winds which tended to keep times down.

The New Zealander then watched another 14 of his rivals, including his compatriot, Pierre Jordan, of Nelson, test themselves against the clock. Jordan, still a junior in cycling terms, recorded a

time of Imin 8.635. The best of the others to that point were the Englishman, Gary Coltman, who shared a time of Imin 7.83 s with the Canadian, Paul Manson, and the Australian, Max Rainsford (Imin 7.345). But the real storm broke when the first of Vinnicombe’s split times went up on the electronic scoreboard. He was credited with a sizzling first 250 m of 17.715, which compared with a mark of 18.92 s for Holtman who until then had been the quickest over the first lap.

Vinnicombe was timed at the 500 m in 32.55, the three-quarter mark at 48.17 s and at the finish in Imin 4.665. The Christchurch cyclist, Murray Steele, then lined up for the final ride of the competition, and posted for him a disappointing time of

Imin 8.665. But while on the surface it looked as though Vinnicombe had the gold medal, and with it a Commonwealth record, cycling commissaires publicly asked the timekeepers running the electronic system to check the Australian’s time.

The officials then looked at the hand-held stop watches, always used in important competitions as a back-up. While much running around was being done by various members of the New Zealand cycling contingent, the officials decided that Vinnicombe should still be awarded the gold medal, but he was given an amended time of Imin 6.235. The hand-held time pieces showed Vinnicombe with times of Imin 6.22 s and Imin 6.235, and Anderson with times of

Imin 6.38 s and Imin 6.335; the Australian’s new time was ! therefore the slower of the two hand held marks. Anderson said immediately after the medal ceremony that he had been watching the electronic split time as Vinnicombe was riding.

"I knew Vinnicombe was third in the world last year and had done a 1:05 but that was going to be bloody fast in these conditions,” he said.

“It didn’t really look quick but that’s the way it is.”

The New Zealand team manager, Mr Bruce Dawe, had asked the race commissaires to see the times recorded by the hand-held watches and did, but there were no grounds on which to lodge a protest. Rainsford won the bronze medal.