Shanks does NZ proud with GOLD

Oct 9th, 10. "I will be out there to perform and do New Zealand proud," Alison Shanks wrote on her blog before she arrived at the Commonwealth Games - that is exactly what she did last night. 

Shanks will wear her Commonwealth Champion title with as much pride as she wore the rainbow rings last year. ©RoadCycling.co.nz

Shanks won the gold medal in the 3000m individual pursuit.  It was the cycling team's best result, and NZ's first gold medal, of these Games.  

Understandably, the New Zealand camp at the velodrome and at the Games Village went wild when they could see Shanks had the better of her opponent.

The 27 year old rode a tactical race in the ride-off against Wendy Houvenaghel of Northern Ireland in what is the specialist event of both riders.  

The Kiwi was behind by over half a second after the first 1000m, but her staggering pace in the second 1000m blew Houvenaghel away by 1.83sec.

The Northern Ireland rider tried to claw back time in the final 1000m, but Shanks proved too strong and again posted a faster split.  

The overall winning margin was 1.36sec, the total time 3m30.875s.  It was the fastest time Shanks has ridden in over a year.  

The race played out similarly to when the two riders met in the final of the World Championships in 2009.  There are no rainbow rings after this success, but there is a gold medal and the prestige of being the Commonwealth Games champion for the next four years.

Yesterday's victory continues a fine tradition for New Zealand in the women's individual pursuit - Sarah Ulmer won the gold medal in the same event in 1998 and 2002, and Madonna Harris won gold in 1990.

Shanks was understandably elated afterwards.  She said the race had gone to plan.

"I just went out there to ride my own race for the first five or six laps. The race is not won in the first kilo [1000m]. You have to make sure you have enough left at the finish," she said.

She said it was a buzz to win New Zealand's first gold medal and a relief to have been able to perform on the day.

Fellow New Zealander Jaime Nielsen rode well to qualify for the bronze medal ride-off.  Unfortunately, she missed the medal which went to Tara Whitten of Canada.

Hearing the NZ national anthem at the velodrome gave everyone a nice break from the Australian anthem which has dominated the track racing programme.  Shanks made the most of her moment in the spotlight - and even sang along.

She did make New Zealand proud!

More silver-ware

The Kiwis qualified second and pushed Australia very close in the final, despite a dramatic fall for Webster. The New Zealanders rode 44.239s to the Australians' 43.772s.

When Webster pulled off after his lap in the front, he spectacularly crashed onto the boards. Reports from the Kiwi camp indicate it was a tyre blowout which caused the incident.

Webster, who hit hard, was able to walk from the track despite painful burn-like scrapes on his shoulder and hip.  He recovered enough to join his teammates on the podium.

In total, New Zealand took a haul of nine medals across the track programme which finished last night.