Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Team GB settle for men's team pursuit silver after Australia claim thrilling victory
By Oli Gent
Updated 07/08/2024 at 21:35 GMT+1
Team GB missed out on the chance to win back the men's Olympic team pursuit title as they were beaten by Australia at Paris 2024. Britain won the discipline three times in a row before Tokyo, but surrendered their title as Italy claimed glory three years ago. Here, the British quartet were edged out by the Aussies, who upgraded their Tokyo bronze medal to gold with a time of 3:42.067.
'Bit embarrassing' says Hayter as he explains what happened in team pursuit final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Great Britain were forced to settle for silver in the final of the men's team pursuit as they were edged out by Australia at Paris 2024.
The British quartet, made up of Ethan Hayter, Daniel Bigham, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon, were bidding to reclaim the gold medal they relinquished at Tokyo 2020.
Team GB finished seventh last time around, with Italy taking over as Olympic champions.
Australia - consisting of Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy, Oliver Bleddyn and Kelland O'Brien - led throughout in an extremely close affair, and the lead continued to stretch as the British energy levels faded.
The Aussies had enough to hold off the British charge, and the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallists upgraded their third-placed finish in Japan to move to the top of the podium in Paris.
They had set the world record in their preliminary race against reigning champions Italy, clocking 3:40.730, and while their time in the final was slower, it was still enough to beat the British team, who crossed the line in 3:44.394.
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Ethan Hayter lost control of his bike as Team GB entered their last lap, with it seeming as though his saddle had come loose as he prepared for a sprint finish.
That left just two men to chase down the rampant Australians, who did not let up as they crossed in 3:42.067 to take their golden tally in Paris to 17.
"It was quite a long way for me to go, nearly five laps at the end," Hayter told Eurosport afterwards.
"I had the race in my hands; that’s kind of what we wanted. I literally tied up and I went pretty deep, my arms went weak, and I fell off.
"We really took it to them; maybe could have paced it a little bit better, and a couple of guys had to go a little bit short, but we left it all out on the line. That’s the deepest I’ve gone in a while.
"A bit embarrassing, but we gave it everything and a silver medal after the last few years with this lot is really nice."
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'They look absolutely gutted' - Blythe reacts to Team GB silver in team pursuit final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Bigham, who led Britain in the opening laps, said that the start was one of the best of his career.
"I was bloody nervous," Bigham added. "The start was what’s killing me. I was so close to jumping getting out of that gate.
"That’s probably the best start I’ve ever had. We were riding damn well; we were exactly where we needed to be. We just gave them half a lap too much."
Tanfield said that the team had to "try something different" in order to compete with the Australians.
"We knew we had to try something different with our strategy tonight," he said. "Put it on the line a bit.
"Ethan had an extra lap to what was planned for, but we went out very hot. We got the most out of what we could on the day. It was unlucky at the end with Ethan; we were just caught out a little at the end there.
"Silver medal at the Olympic Games. If someone had said that to me before, I would have said, ‘Woah, that’s amazing.’"
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Vernon admitted that the run-up to the final had not been ideal as GB aimed to recoup the gold they lost in Tokyo.
"It’s really special," Vernon said of the silver, before reflecting on the lead-up to the race.
"At the moment we’ve just lost the gold rather than won silver, but upon reflection, the run-in we had with Dan on Friday, and we’ve had to change the line-up every round pretty much.
"The run-in was far from ideal the last few days, but we’ve pulled together the best we could."
'GUTTED FOR THEM RIGHT NOW' - BLYTHE REACTS, EXPLAINS HAYTER SADDLE PROBLEM
Eurosport expert Adam Blythe said he was "gutted" for the riders, who had pushed themselves to the limits in the final.
He also offered an explanation to Hayter's saddle break, which totally undid any lingering chance the team had of claiming gold.
"The riders are pulling up and pushing down so hard that they’re pushing and pulling on the handlebars that they’re squeezing their glutes as much as they can to get as much power out," Blythe explained on discovery+.
"But this does sometimes happen when you get them right on the edge of your saddle. They look absolutely gutted.
"They really pushed Australia. 0.1 coming into that last lap. You never know what might happen; we’re not going to know what’s happened.
"It’s massively gutting for them. They need to be proud. Ethan is extremely strong; it’s the last lap where he comes into his best.
"Coming into that last lap, pulling it all back, Ethan, I think, was onto that. He was ready to go; ready to deliver that.
"I think that it looked like Welsford in that last split eased off naturally, but Ethan was like a train. He was ready to go. He was holding that tempo high. I don’t want to say they were able to deliver, because it’s awful to look back on.
"Whatever these guys are going through is a million times worse than what we’re feeling. Gutted for them right now. What a battle right up until that last lap."
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discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.
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