SM
Man City vs. Feyenoord: 4 hrs 48 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data

Pre-Tokyo plan for change helps put GB cycling team top of the medals table

:Headline: Pre-Tokyo plan for change helps put GB cycling team top of the medals table:
Diversifying into BMX and Mountain Bike reaped rewards with three of GB's six golds coming from those disciplines.
Sports Mole

Great Britain's cycling team ended up in a familiar place at the end of the Tokyo Olympics – top of the medal table.

Twelve medals, six gold, matched the tally from Rio, with cycling once again the biggest single contributor to Team GB's overall medal count.

"To be able to come here and equal the number of medals and gold medals from Rio, to be able to leave being the only country in history that's won a gold medal in every Olympic discipline, with Jason and Laura being the kings and queens of sport, let alone cycling, and to have a team of young riders coming through bodes well for Paris, for LA, it's fantastic," said performance director Stephen Park.

Attempts to lower expectations were not entirely wide of the mark: there were four more events at these Games, 22 compared to 18, from which to take those medals, and the dominance in the velodrome was certainly challenged if not quite ended – GB were top of the medal table on the track too.

Losing both the team pursuit titles was galling, if not unexpected on the men's side.

But the Tokyo Games will go down as a success for British Cycling, relief after a period of difficult questions and the ugly backdrop of Richard Freeman's medical tribunal.

Delivering this success was down to the same sort of calculated planning that brought glory in Beijing, London, and Rio, but this time it was about planning for change.

With rivals catching up fast or even pulling away on the track, GB knew they must diversify into BMX and mountain biking – and struck gold faster than expected through Tom Pidcock, Beth Shriever and Charlotte Worthington, among the new faces who can help British Cycling reach new communities.

Great Britain's Tom Pidcock celebrates winning gold in the men's mountain bike.

They changed tack in the velodrome too. Britain had previously made the timed events their stock in trade for over a decade, seeing a race against the clock as more controllable.

But as those titles were surrendered in Izu, Britain instead triumphed in the more chaotic arena of the bunch races – first Matt Walls in the omnium before Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald lit up the first women's Olympic Madison – reward for putting greater emphasis on the opportunities in these areas.

"We were confident, but with so little racing we didn't know what we would be met with," Park said.

"What we did know is that all our riders would come away from here having recorded their best ever performances. Whether those performances would be good enough for medals was the question."

Park, the ex-sailor who took over after the Rio Games, should take a chunk of the credit, not least for seeing that funding was redirected into the new disciplines that delivered success.

He has received relatively little praise during his tenure to date, more often facing sniping from the sidelines, but as he celebrated Jason Kenny's record-breaking seventh career gold on Sunday, he had a challenge for his critics.

Great Britain's Katie Archibald (left) and Laura Kenny celebrate their Madison gold medals. 

"If you want to keep sniping, feel free to give me a call," he said. "I'll make sure there's a bike available, rock up and have a go, because none of these people, riders or athletes, none of them would have beaten anyone who was on the track here. Not even close."

Credit too goes to two other Brits – Brian Cookson and Martin Gibbs, who in their former roles as president and director general of the UCI respectively were the ones who pushed for the addition of BMX freestyle and the return of the Madison in the velodrome.

Those decisions ultimately paved the way for four medals, two of them gold, for Team GB.

A postponed Games means no time to rest – the Paris cycle has already begun, but they will be approached with a sense of optimism.

"We continue to build," Park said. "We have got plenty of new shoots."

body check tags ::

amp_article__458619 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-08-08 11:29:20:
html db last update - 2021-08-08 11:29:20 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Stephen Park

Share this article now:
T2
Read Next:
Empty venues and extreme heat - things to forget from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
>


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Stephen Park Laura Kenny Jason Kenny Tom Pidcock Charlotte Worthington Beth Shriever Cycling
Follow @SportsMole for the latest breaking news stories, and follow @sm_headlines to get every headline from Sports Mole
Recommended Next on SM
Empty venues and extreme heat - things to forget from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Step ahead: Man United have 'already made an approach' for £83.5m Sporting star
What's happened? Leicester make major Cooper decision after latest defeat

Page options

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Fulham125341717018
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle125341313018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham124351519-415
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Preview: Heidenheim vs. Chelsea - prediction, team news, lineups

1

PH

Are James, Neto fit to feature? Chelsea predicted XI vs. Heidenheim

2

AJ

Preview: AZ vs. Galatasaray - prediction, team news, lineups

NEW

3

PA

Preview: Besiktas vs. M. Tel Aviv - prediction, team news, lineups

NEW

4

PB

Man City 'make decision' over whether to trigger Delap buyback clause

5

MC

Tuesday's Champions League predictions including Man City vs. Feyenoord

6

TC

Man United 'facing competition' for Nkunku signature in January

7

MU

Wolves handed defensive boost ahead of winter schedule

8

WH

Salah, Saka and Spurs: Who makes our Premier League Team of the Week?

9

SS

Preview: Slavia Prague vs. Fenerbahce - prediction, team news, lineups

10

PS


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .