Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Cycling in Review
Now the Tokyo 2020 Olympics games have come to an end, it is time to highlight team GB’s achievements in cycling with a retrospective look at the medals that followed. Many people prospectively said team GB would underperform in cycling disciplines but ultimately, the games culminated in Team GB attaining first place in the Tokyo 2020 cycling medal table.
A Rocky Road to Start with
Team GB’s cycling participation had an underwhelming start with the road cycling events, as no British representative managed to finish in the top 5 and we had to submit to the triumph of cyclists from other countries.
Striking MTB Gold
Fortunately, there was much to smile about with regards to mountain biking as Tom Pidcock won gold in the men's cross country mountain bike race on Monday 26th July, despite incurring a collarbone injury a mere 2 months before the games began, making his achievement even more noteworthy. In the women’s cross country event, 24 year old Evie Richards finished in 7th place.
BMX Victory
There was a huge conversation around the decision to cut funding for women’s BMX training for the Olympics as Bethany Shriever clinched gold in the women’s BMX racing, after having to work part time as a teaching assistant and launch a crowdfund in the name of equality. Kye White also impressed on his BMX by scoring a silver medal in the men’s event.
Meanwhile in the women's BMX park freestyle Olympic final, previous chef and now Olympic champion Charlotte Worthington recovered from an early fall to clinch gold!
Track Cycling – Making History
Every follower of Team GB at the Olympics waits patiently to see how we perform in the track cycling events. A lot of preliminary talk centred around doubtful speculation, but history was once again made by our first-rate participants.
As Sir Chris Hoy himself predicted, Jason Kenny surpassed Hoy’s record to now have 7 gold medals to his name after a magnificent performance in the men’s Keirin, with a knighthood surely to follow. He is now Britain’s most successful Olympian and despite being 33, he still has the Paris Olympics to go.
Continuing the theme of making history, Laura Kenny became Britain’s most successful female Olympian when she became the only British woman to win gold at 3 consecutive Olympic games. Together with Kate Archibald, they facilitated team GB winning the first ever Olympic Madison gold in a victorious moment for Britain.
Just a day beforehand, Matt Walls secured the first gold medal for team GB in the velodrome at this years’ Olympics, as well as getting the first gold medal in the men’s Omnium event since its inception at the London 2012 games.
History has been made for team GB in the Tokyo2020 Olympics, with our cycling sports stars making the country proud once again and inspiring legions of young people to follow in their footsteps for future victory.
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