Olympic gold medals symbolise determination, triumph and glory, and are rarely about personal pain, grief and heartbreak.
After lifting the roof off the Dunc Gray Velodrome with a momentous victory in the men’s Madison, Scott McGrory and Brett Aitken proudly wore their gold medals around their necks but had their hearts on their sleeves.
In a Madison event making its Olympic Games debut, the super pair comfortably defeated the teams from Belgium and Italy, but their driving force was a shared pain and a special bond which underpinned a courageous and determined performance.
Their resolve was tested when McGrory’s three-month old son, Alexander, tragically died from a heart condition three months before the Games, while Aitken’s two-year-old daughter Ashli was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder which affects mobility and communication.
McGrory decided to retire after his son’s death, but his fiancé Donna convinced him to continue. “I couldn’t have got through the year without her,” he said.
Aitken was spurred on by having Ashli watching in the stand saying, “She smiled at me. I knew this would be the night.”
There was further medal success when Gary Neiwand claimed the silver medal in the men’s keirin when he charged to the lead with two laps remaining knowing that he would be unable to overhaul the German and French riders from behind.
“I put myself on the line to make them catch the rabbit…unfortunately one caught me,” he said.
With only one Australian participant permitted in the race, Neiwand acknowledged the selfless act of Darryn Hill who gave up his place in the race when he realised that his form did not warrant taking a start in the medal race.
“I owe this (medal) to Darryn Hill,” said Neiwand. “He owned up and said that he wasn’t going well enough. He’s a great team man. Darryn deserves to win a world keirin title one day.”
The medals continued at the Aquatic Centre when Matt Welsh captured bronze in the men’s 200m backstroke behind the USA duo of Lenny Krayzelburg and Aaron Peirsol. It followed his silver medal three days earlier in the 100m backstroke.
After breaking the Australian and Commonwealth records in a personal best performance, Welsh said; “It’s pretty amazing. I can’t believe I was that close.”
“I think that I am happier with my bronze from the 200 than I was with the silver in the 100. My potential was not as good, so to win a medal is a real thrill,” he said.
Australia was denied another bronze medal when Tash Lonsdale was beaten in a nail-biting shoot-off for third place in the women’s skeet final at the shooting range.
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