Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Leigh Hoffman has capped his successful Commonwealth Games track cycling campaign with gold in the men’s sprint.
Hoffman was too good for experienced Trinidad and Tobago sprinter Nicholas Paul, beating him two heats to nil in their gold-medal ride-off.
Fellow Australian Tayte Ryan also beat England’s Harry Ledingham-Horn for bronze on Sunday morning (AEST) at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
After Hoffman had a clear-cut win in their first heat, Paul used his experience to force the Australian up the track in heat two and had a lead at the start of the bell lap.
Hoffman then powered around him to claim the final.
The men’s sprint was supposed to be one of the biggest events at the Games.
But English rider Matt Richardson, who stunned the sport by defecting from Australia to Great Britain days after the Paris Olympics, pulled out racing in the sprint for England after a keirin crash earlier this week in Japan.
After Hoffman helped Australia win gold in the team sprint on day one of the track cycling, he declared “good riddance” to his former teammate.
Hoffman qualified fastest in Games-record time earlier on Saturday and had a straightforward progression to the final, beating Ryan 2-0 in their semi-final.
Paul, by contrast, had a 2-1 semi-final win over Ledingham-Horn.
It is Australia’s seventh gold medal in track cycling at the Glasgow Games. Hoffman also won silver in the keirin on day two at the track.
William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, were in the crowd for the start of the day-three medals session.
Australian Claudia Marcks, who won gold in the women’s team pursuit, was a surprise medallist in the 1km time trial.
Showing her track endurance pedigree, Marcks was only 11th fastest after the first of four laps. But she powered home with the fastest second-half split and clocked one minute 5.607 seconds.
Only Welsh sprint queen Emma Finucane could better her time, clocking 1:05.285 for the gold.
Georgia Baker won bronze in the 25km women’s points race, meaning it will come down to the elimination on the last day of competition whether she wins the most Australian cycling gold medals at the Commonwealth Games.
After winning gold in the team pursuit and the scratch race, Baker was clearly a marked rider in the points and no rivals would work with her.
Anna Morris won on 66 points and Welsh team-mate Jessica Roberts took silver with 52, with the Australian one point behind.
Baker’s scratch win took her to five gold medals, joining Anna Meares, Matt Glaetzer and Brad McGee as the most by Australian cyclists at the Commonwealth Games.
Jess Gallagher and her pilot Jacqueline Mengler-Mohr took silver behind New Zealand in the tandem B 1km time trial.
Kane Perris and pilot Luke Zaccaria beat Malaysia in the bronze-medal ride-off for the men’s tandem B sprint.
