Australia’s golden sprinters speak out on cycling defector: ‘Good riddance’

Leigh Hoffman has bid Matt Richardson good riddance after Australia’s gold medal in the team sprint on day one of the Commonwealth Games track cycling program.

Teammate Ryan Elliott also joked they had cleared Hoffman as their leader, checking his passport to make sure he will stay in the Australian program. While expressing sympathy for Richardson after a recent nasty race crash in Japan, his former teammates finally spoke freely about the shock defection.

Their big win over England was one of Australia’s three cycling gold medals at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, along with the women’s team pursuit and para-cyclist Tara Neyland.

But England gained some revenge for the Paris Olympics, beating Australia in the men’s team pursuit final. Two years ago, Australia narrowly downed Great Britain in a pulsating ride-off for gold. Soon after Paris, Richardson stunned the sport by switching allegiances to Great Britain.

The ex-Australian was to be one of the biggest stories of the Glasgow Games, taking on former teammates in the match sprint. But there was more drama on the eve of the track program when Richardson pulled out because of injuries from the Japan crash, when a rival cyclist sideswiped him.

Hoffman was sympathetic, to an extent. After largely keeping their counsel over the past two years, the Australians made their feelings about the defection clear.

“It was horrible, I’ve seen video of the crash, it’s pretty serious. I would have loved for him to come here and race and see how Danny [teammate Danny Barber] and I stack up,” Hoffman said.

“It would have been great if he stayed in Australia, but his heart was obviously never always in it – so good riddance.”

Elliott was also asked about Hoffman stepping up since Paris as the leader of the sprint squad.

“We checked his passport for his lineage, so he’s good,” Elliott joked, in reference to Richardson’s dual citizenship. “It [the rivalry with the British] has definitely grown a lot since the ... defection. Definitely it’s there [with] the defector himself. This one is sweet.”

England were only 0.045 of a second behind in qualifying, but Elliott, Hoffman and Danny Barber beat them by more than half a second in the final.

There was drama in the men’s team sprint ride-off for bronze when Wales did not start because one of their riders was unwell on the start line, handing third place to Trinidad and Tobago.

Australia won three of the seven gold medals on offer during day one at the velodrome.

Felicity Wilson-Haffenden leads Australia in the team pursuit. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

The Australian women successfully defended their team pursuit Games title, overhauling New Zealand and breaking their own Commonwealth Games record.

Sophie Edwards came out of the pursuit quartet who qualified fastest, with three-time Games gold medallist Georgia Baker taking her place.

Felicity Wilson-Haffenden, Claudia Marcks and Alyssa Polites joined Baker in comfortably beating New Zealand for the gold medal. Australia rode 4:10.658, while New Zealand clocked 4:12.775.

“Bloody awesome – I couldn’t ask for much more. We came in here wanting to win gold, but it’s easier said than done,” said women’s coach Ash Ankudinoff, a former team pursuit world champion.

“It’s an exciting bunch. I never cracked an Olympic medal, but we have a good bunch. It’s just a step in the right direction – look out LA.”

Kane Perris and his pilot Luke Zaccaria won bronze in the men’s tandem B 1km time trial, while Scotland delighted the crowd by winning the first gold of the track program in the event ahead of Wales.

Para-sport veteran Jess Gallagher, with Jacqui Mengler-Mohr piloting, took silver behind New Zealand in the women’s tandem B sprint.

Molly McGill, Kristina Clonan and Alessia McCaig were fourth-fastest qualifiers in the women’s team sprint and lost their bronze ride-off to Scotland, as Wales beat England for gold.