New Zealand’s first Commonwealth Games gold medal won in men’s team pursuit

New Zealand has its first gold medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, after the men’s team pursuit team held off host England to claim the country’s first gold medal in the event since 1990.

The quartet of Aaron Gate, Jordan Kerby, Tom Sexton and Campbell Stewart recovered from the disappointment of last year’s Olympics in Tokyo, where they crashed out of the bronze medal race while leading Australia, to reach the final in a new record of the Commonwealth Games from 3:47.575.

It was Kerby’s second consecutive gold medal in the team pursuit, having been part of the successful Australian team that won the Gold Coast in 2018 before changing nationality to represent New Zealand.

The lead changed hands several times during the first half of the race, but they opened a 1 second lead after a huge corner at the front of Sexton and never looked back.

Andrews comes to the rescue

New Zealand claimed a silver medal in the women’s team pursuit after Ellesse Andrews came to their rescue to ensure they could still compete.

Sprinter Andrews, winner of a silver medal on the keirin at the Tokyo Olympics last year, volunteered her services with the endurance team when Ally Wollaston was sidelined with an injury on the eve of the Games.

Wollaston crashed during the inaugural Tour de France Femmes and broke her wrist a day before she was due to leave for England.

After qualifying second at London’s Lee Valley VeloPark, the New Zealand quartet of Andrews, Bryony Botha, Michaela Drummond and Emily Shearman were well beaten by Australia in the gold medal race.

With the women’s team sprint final taking place so soon after the team pursuit, Andrews dropped out almost immediately after the starter’s gunfire, allowing New Zealand to start the race, but Botha, Drummond and Shearman were pitted against four Australian riders had to struggle.

The numerical disadvantage took its toll. The New Zealanders were down at every checkpoint, finishing more than five seconds behind their trans-Tasman counterparts at 4000m, with Australia finishing strong on the final lap and setting a new Commonwealth Games record of 4:12.234.

Botha was part of the New Zealand team that also won a silver medal at the Gold Coast in 2018.