<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>326082</docID> <postdate>2024-08-11 07:44:57</postdate> <headline>Underdog wins gave record Paris gold haul a gritty edge</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-326088" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240808135029614010-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="601" /></p> <caption>Australian cycling coach Tim Decker and his team pursuiters defied the odds to win gold at the Olympics. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Roger Vaughan</strong> in Paris</span></p> <p><strong>Underestimate cycling coach Tim Decker and his team pursuiters at your peril.</strong></p> <p>Great Britain were left rueing the error after their Australian arch-rivals spectacularly won the men's gold medal at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome outside Paris.</p> <p>It was a spectacular exorcism of the demons from the Tokyo Games. Alex Porter's horrific face plant when his handlebars snapped off cruelled Australia's hopes and they had to settle for bronze.</p> <p>By definition, Australia's record haul of 18 gold medals meant there were underdogs among them who brilliantly exceeded expectations.</p> <p>No-one put on the cape better than the pursuiters in track cycling.</p> <p>They had not won a medal in the event at the world championships since Tokyo and most thought they were a podium chance, at best.</p> <p>Instead Sam Welsford, Kelland O'Brien, Conor Leahy and Oliver Bleddyn qualified fastest, broke the world record, narrowly beat the British in a pulsating final and collected Australia's first Olympic gold in the event since 2004.</p> <p>"I genuinely feel we underestimated what the Aussies would bring to the party. They have lifted it a huge amount and that cannot be denied - that's seriously impressive," British rider Dan Bigham said.</p> <p>Decker's broad grin only dropped when, after the gold medal ride, he was asked if the Australians had surprised themselves.</p> <p>"No. Never," he replied, with emphasis.</p> <p>But Matt Ebden and John Peers were gobsmacked by what they did in Paris.</p> <p>The unseeded 36-year-old men's doubles veterans are the second Australian tennis gold medallists after Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde won the same event in 1996.</p> <p>Between them, Peers and Ebden have won a hatful of titles, including grand slams. But they'd never had a moment quite like this.</p> <p>"Winning slams, winning Wimbledon, we've been into the Davis Cup finals the last couple of years .... but I mean, the Olympics? Gold? Really?," Ebden said.</p> <p>"Some miracle work has happened and somehow we've now got a gold medal."</p> <p>They did it the hard way, too, coming from a set and 4-2 down to beat the United States in the gold medal game.</p> <p>Then there's the Fox family in canoe and kayak slalom. You may have heard of them.</p> <p>Big sister Jessica was one of the Australian flag bearers and then won two gold medals. But she did not make it through the kayak cross, a new Olympic event.</p> <p>Up stepped little sister Noemie, who beat her older sibling in a heat and then won the final in her Games debut.</p> <p>That puts the Foxes 28th on the Olympic medal tally as of late on day 15.</p> <p>"You don't really dare to dream this big, but I really did this time," the younger Fox Olympic gold medallist said.</p> <p>While Grace Brown wasn't quite so big a surprise when she won Australia's first gold medal, she still hadn't won a road time trial world title or an Olympic medal before her supreme performance on sodden Paris streets.</p> <p>While several other favourites crashed, Brown - "little old me" - did not and she dominated.</p> <p>Not all great Australian underdog stories involved gold.</p> <p>Meg Harris, a hearing-impaired swimmer who waits for a visual clue when her opponents jump from the blocks, stunned herself by winning silver in the women's 50m freestyle.</p> <p>Natalya Diehm broke through for bronze in BMX freestyle after five reconstructions on the same knee and several near-misses at major events.</p> <p>Caitlin Parker is the first Australian woman to win a boxing medal. She and Charlie Senior won bronze, the best Olympic boxing result for Australia in 64 years.</p> <p>The Australian women's water polo team upset the mighty American team on the way to silver.</p> <p>And the water polo men went on a European giant-slaying run, beating Serbia, France and Hungary, before a shootoot quarter-final loss to the US.</p> <p>https://citynews.com.au/2024/aussie-struggles-among-the-paris-games-triumphs/</p> </body>