Australian cyclist Matthew Glaetzer knew he had luck on his side when he claimed bronze in the men’s keirin final on the last day at the Paris Olympics.
Glaetzer admitted “I did a Bradbury” after some of his rival riders crashed towards the end of the race and he crossed the line unexpectedly in third place.
It wasn’t quite the gold medal that Stephen Bradbury famously won at the 2002 Winter Olympics in speedskating when all his fellow competitors fell over to allow him to cruise to one of Australian sport’s most celebrated unlikely triumphs.
But it was a great way for the Aussies to finish at the velodrome and for Glaetzer, it was his first individual Olympic medal.
Fellow Aussie Matt Richardson took the silver well clear of the crash carnage involving Malaysian rider Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, Britain’s Jack Carlin and Japan’s Nakano Shinji while Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen won gold.
“I’ve had a lot of bad luck in my career and it’s good to finish on some good luck,” Glaetzer said.
“I’m just grateful I stayed upright on that final corner. They were bumping me and then I saw them all absolutely hit the deck.
“All of a sudden I saw I was crossing the line for bronze and I couldn’t believe it. I felt like a bit of a Steve Bradbury, but it’s amazing.
“It was little bit of an early move in the end, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t get caught out. In the end, I stayed on my bike, dodged the chaos, crossed the line and felt blessed to get an individual medal.
“You never know what will happen in a keirin Olympic final. They are always crazy. That was an example of what could happen in a keirin. Literally anything.
“To come away from my final Olympics, with an individual medal, I knew it was possible but things had to fall my way and it literally did today.”
The 31-year-old from Adelaide fought back after a battle with thyroid cancer in 2019 and after a series of injuries, a medal had eluded him after three trips to the Olympics, losing four bronze medal races.
But he finally got to step onto the podium earlier in the Paris Olympics when he collected bronze in the men’s team sprint with Richardson and Leigh Hoffman.
“I know I am at the end of my career and it always gets harder,” he said.
“To have this (keirin) medal, it’s huge. I’m just super grateful. What a way to finish.
“I had a lot of bad luck in my career. I’ve had a lot to overcome and, Jesus, it’s good to finish with some good luck.”
After just one bronze medal at Tokyo three years ago, Australian cycling has re-established itself as one of the best programs in the world in Paris with five medals from a gold, two silver and two bronze.
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/viQj3dh of the Day: ‘I did a Bradbury’ – Glaetzer counts his lucky stars after rival cyclists crash to hand him bronze
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