Brown and O'Grady take gold in madison
By Melissa Ryan in Athens
August 26, 2004 - 2:21AM




Graeme Brown, left, and Stuart O'Grady on their way to winning the gold medal in the men's madison. Photo: AP


Australia have capped their triumphant Olympic track cycling campaign with a frenzy of gold medals, as duo Stuart O'Grady and Graeme Brown emerged victorious from the whirling dervish of the madison, while sprinting star Ryan Bayley sped to glory in the chaos of the keirin.

The track cycling team, shrouded in controversy before the Athens Games, have emerged sparkling after it, with five gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze, not only the greatest number of gold medals an Australian cycling team has captured at a Games but also the greatest number of medals ever brought home. The Australian cycling gold medal count is six all up, with Sara Carrigan's road race victory.

Road rider O'Grady made a scintillating return to track cycling after an absence of four years, as O'Grady and team pursuit gold medallist Brown pedalled Australia to a successful defence of their Olympic madison crown in Athens. Brown and Bayley become the first Australian cyclists since the legendary Russell Mockridge, at Helsinki in 1952, to finish an Olympics with two gold medals.

Four years ago in Sydney, Brett Aitken and Scott McGrory captured an emotional madison victory which quickly saw them dubbed the "sling kings". But O'Grady and Brown can now join them as madison royalty after lapping the field and scoring 22 points to earn the gold medal.

Swiss pair Franco Marvulli and Bruno Risi finished second with 15 points, while Great Britain took the bronze medal on 12 points.

In the keirin, Bayley ripped out his burning acceleration on the second-last lap to blast into a lead which no one came close to surpassing. Teammate Shane Kelly once again finished in fourth place across the line, but the relegation of German Rene Wolff handed him the bronze medal. Spaniard Jose Escuredo took the silver.

"This is insane," Bayley said.

Brown was in tears as he circled the track holding the Australian flag proudly above his head. "I can't believe it. World record and two gold medals, what a week. I never would have imagined it in my wildest dreams," he said.

The Australian team had taken a gamble in drafting O'Grady, who has forged a superstar reputation as a professional road rider in Europe and finished 33rd in the Olympic road race, back on to the track after years off it. But it was felt that O'Grady and Brown represented the strongest combination possible, and the move paid off with a spectacular reward.

The pair, sprinters both, shared the dashing work load superbly, as the Australians featured in seven of the 10 sprints in the 200-lap, 50-kilometre race.

"I'm speechless. This is the victory I've wanted all my life and I know that Cycling Australia took a gamble bringing me here and putting me in the madison," O'Grady said.

"I just want to thank everyone who believed in me and gave me a chance. I certainly didn't come here to get second."

O'Grady punched the air in jubilation before he hit the finish line in second place, with Brown pointing back at him as the two celebrated. O'Grady then embraced his wife and young son.

There had been one tiny flaw, an early slip-up when O'Grady stretched out his hand to switch with Brown but Brown failed to keep his grasp as he headed towards the third sprint, although he eventually recovered to take second place. But the slip was immediately erased as the Australians powered along with Germany to lap the field, with O'Grady winning the fourth sprint to put Australia in the lead. From there, the gold medal position was never surrendered.

Finally, at his fourth Olympic campaign, O'Grady has earned the Olympic gold medal he has fought for all his life - having had heart problems in the past, coming close to death after a mugging in 1999, and this year with the pain of his grandfather's death - to cap the silver in the team pursuit from Barcelona, and bronze from the points race and team pursuit in Atlanta.

http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/artic...246635589.html