Mighty Meares Takes 500m TT Gold in Record Time!

Meares Sets New 500m Mark in Athens



By Jason Sumner
VeloNews associate editor
In Athens
This report filed August 20, 2004

For most Olympic athletes in Athens the heat is a hindrance, but when it comes to track racers, the balmier the better. The heat makes the boards of the 250-meter wooden track expand and tighten, and that makes conditions fast. That was certainly the case on the opening day of competition at the Olympic velodrome, where two Olympic records and one world record were eclipsed on a sizzling Friday afternoon in Greece.




Meares realizes that she's won


The new world's best came in the women's 500-meter time trial, with Aussie Anna Meares becoming the first woman to complete two laps in under 34 seconds. Her time of 33.952 also earned Australia its second cycling gold medal of these Games. Sara Carrigan won the women's road race last Saturday.

"I can't remember half the race, and I definitely wasn't expecting to break the world record," said Meares, who beat out the previous world recorder holder Yonghua Jiang of China. "The 2003 world's was a big eye opener for me. That was the first time I really stood back and had the belief that I can really match it with these girls."

Belarusian Natallia Tsylinskaya took the bronze. Canada's Lori-Ann Muenzer was seventh, while Mexico's former world champion Nancy Contreras Reyes had to settle for eighth.



Hoy, Hoy, Hoy

The next mark to fall came in the finals of the men's 1km time trial, when four riders eclipsed the former best held by Britain's Jason Queally, who won the gold in Sydney. Queally couldn't have been too upset with day's outcome, though. It was his U.K. teammate Chris Hoy who was the day's fastest, completing four laps of the track in 1:00.71 to win gold for England. This was much to the delight of the sold-out crowd, dominated by Union Jack waving Brits.

"The crowd was unbelievable," said Hoy, who outgunned France's Arnaud Tournant and German speedster Stefan Nimke to take gold. "This is a complete shock. It took a few laps afterward for it to really sink in."

Hoy's mark is the fastest ever at sea level. Tournant owns the current world mark of 58.875, but that standard was set in the thin air of La Paz, Bolivia.

No gold for Tournant, but he keeps the world record
"I really didn't expect in a 100 years to go that fast," said Hoy. "It's a lot of pressure being the last man but I knew what I had to do. Anyone of us could have won the gold medal tonight, it was extremely close, but it's just my night tonight."

The top Olympic mark was also felled in the qualifying round of the men's individual pursuit. And again it was a British rider, as Bradley Wiggins covered 4000 meters in 4:15.165. Wiggins also had the top mark in the ensuing first round, putting him into Saturday's gold medal final against Aussie Brad McGee. Spain's Sergi Escobar and Brit Rob Hayles will battle for the bronze.

Racing on the first of six days at the velodrome began with the qualifying round for the individual pursuit, which saw a field of 15 whittled to eight. Five riders would come in under the old Olympic mark, set by German Robert Bartko four years ago in Sydney. Bartko didn't has the gas this time around, being ousted later in the day from medal contention by McGee in the first round.

Next up was Meares and the rest of the 12-rider 500-meter field. The 20-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the sport this year, taking the 500 at this year's world's and finishing second in the sprint. On this day she was the final rider to take the track, but was impervious to the pressure.

Afterwards she brushed off questions about the drug scandal that has plagued the Aussie track program on the lead-up to the Games.

"There's nothing to say," she said. "The performances on the track will speak for themselves."

Finally came arguably the greatest night men's kilo racing in history, as Aussie Shane Kelly and the three medal winners all came in under Queeally's old Olympic mark. It may well have been five if Dutchman Theo Boss hadn't mistimed his start. But the reigning sprint world champion barged the gate, and ended up fifth.

"When you see the Olympic record broken four times in a day that tells you a lot about the quality of the race," Tournant said.

Olympic track racing continues Saturday in Athens at 4:30 p.m. local time. Besides the men's individual pursuit, medals will be handed out in the team sprint.