The final event of Friday at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome was an exhilarating Men’s Elimination Race with Mark Stewart taking silver.
The Dundonian led from the front early doors to make the race hard. Elliot Rowe found himself in early danger but a number of surges saw him avoid very early elimination, but the Aberdonian would bow out in 13th.
Lewis Askey would be the next Team Scotland rider to be eliminated in the devil in eleventh, leaving Stewart the sole Scot in contention. The Discovery Junior CC graduate kept the pace high leading it from the front and surging to ensure the racing was hard for all behind.
With four riders to go Stewart made one more acceleration to ensure a medal, with the following elimination seeing Henry Hobbs fall by the wayside leaving two riders left. As the bell rang, it was clear that the Scot had nothing left to give, but was treated to a standing ovation as he secured Scotland’s first cycling silver of these home games.
When asked how it felt to receive the silver, Mark said:
“It’s super special, hearing those words. I remember 12 years ago, being 18 years old here and taking a kicking in the racing and it seemed like a dream to have a medal at a Glasgow games. So to be given this opportunity to come here and fight for a medal and get a medal, it’s super special”
Erin Boothman raised the roof off the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome with a sensational bronze medal in the women’s individual pursuit to open the evening’s proceedings.
The Glaswegian was the youngest member of Team Scotland’s cycling team, but the 19-year-old did not let her lack of Commonwealth experience hinder her.
A measured performance saw Boothman take a slender lead over Kiwi Bryony Botha in the early stages. Learning from perhaps an overly eager start in qualifying, the rising star kept a comfortable margin and was able to break her own Scottish record by setting a time of 4:30.222 to take a brilliant bronze medal.
The young prodigy would not have to wait long for her second medal. The women’s 10km scratch race was a fraught affair with no moves able to create a lasting advantage. The closest to succeeding was an attack speared by Neah Evans, although with around four laps to go it was nullified by the Australian riders leading out the sprint.
Boothman was on the coattails of the leading three in the final sprint came across the line in fourth. The commissaires relegated Anna Morris of Wales to fifth after an infringement, promoting the Glaswegian to her second medal and Scotland’s third of the night.
She said afterwards:
“It’s super special, I would have never expected that and to do it on the same night is definitely special in front of these home crowds. I did the scratch just to do it and tick it off and I didn’t expect to take a medal and then go and medal again.”
“When we finished I thought I got fourth but when the results were relooked at, I got the bronze medal. I couldn’t be happier”
“It’s lived up to my expectations and more, I’m only one day in to three days of racing, so if I was to finish it now I would be over the moon. I’m definitely looking forwards to the next two days”
It was a flurry of activity on the podium as moments after Boothman’s first medal, Fin Graham would make his way there to receive his bronze medal from the Men’s C1-3 Kilometre. Graham was the penultimate rider to go knowing that at least a time of 1:07 would be required to secure a medal.
As he came across the line in second, with one rider to go, the Highlander knew he had medalled, much to the appreciation of the Glasgow crowd.
Absolutely delighted, he told Scottish Cycling:
“It’s so special, to ride in front of a home crowd, that noise really does just give you that extra wee bit and pushes you that wee bit harder. To come across the line and look up and see you’ve won a medal, the crowd definitely helps with that!
“With friends and family in the crowd, it’s so special and just so many familiar faces and so many Scotland flags in the crowd, it just means so much. “
It sets Graham up nicely for Sunday in the 3000m Individual Pursuit – a longer distance which should suit the Scot better with his road palmares.
Lauren Bell qualified fastest of the Scots in the women’s sprint – and fourth overall with her 10.543 in the flying 200m.
A tough test against Wales’ Lowri Thomas awaited in the last 16, the Scot just holding her Welsh opponent on the hip to fend off the team sprint gold medallist from Thursday and progress.
The quarter-finals saw Bell face Rhian Edmunds, with the pair facing off in a best of three.
Edmunds claimed the first race by a whisker, with Bell not quite able to repeat the same tactic as the aforementioned round of sixteen.
Iona Moir bowed out in the round of 16 after a tough battle against Mohd Asri of Malaysia. The Scot opened the door to her opponent and was unable to come over the top of the Malaysian athlete in the final lap.
Ellie Stone also broke the 11-second barrier in qualifying but narrowly missed out on the knockout competition with a time of 10.955. Stone will be in action again in the kilometre and keirin.
There were two solid rides in the men’s individual pursuit with Michael Gill and Tim Shoreman in action. Gill would finish in ninth with a time of 4:11.944 while Shoreman would come home in twelfth with a time of 4:15.404.
While in the men’s keirin Pete Mitchell finished in eighth place, while Lyall Craig and Niall Monks bowed out in the repechage after tough first round tests. Mitchell scored one of the big cheers of the night as he won the first round repechage in the keirin – something of a fan favourite in the Commonwealth programme.
Join us tomorrow as we hope to add to the six Scottish medals on the track with another packed programme of races.