In a moment of madness, a medal hung in the balance. The Madison, cycling’s crazy relay race, threatened to devour the British dreams of Elinor Barker and Neah Evans, who a few months ago could not even climb stairs.
Right on cue, Barker put in a very long two-lap sprint and the team came home to take silver. It was a fantastic end to an exciting race as they claimed maximum points in the last of the 12 sprints, which counted double.
The Italians took gold with 37 points, Great Britain with 31 and Denmark with 28, bronze.
For Evans, a 34-year-old veterinary surgeon from Glasgow, it was the culmination of a remarkable recovery from a debilitating illness similar to infectious mononucleosis.
“Basically the last 18 months have been shit for me,” Evans revealed, as Cardiff-born Barker sat on the ground recovering from her exertions, both of them holding ice packs on the boiling velodrome they had hit around 120 times.
Team GB have secured cycling silver in a gruelling women’s event in Madison
Elinor Barker and Neah Evans claimed Britain’s seventh medal in the sport
Despite taking an early lead on the velodrome today, the duo quickly faded and were soon eclipsed by the Italian and Dutch teams.
‘There were a lot of times where I sat there and thought, “I’m not going to make it.” I had an accident and tore my hip flexor. I had another accident and hurt my back.
‘At the end of April, I contracted a bacterial infection called Epstein-Barré virus that left me on the ground. The training plan went down the drain.
‘Honestly, if someone had told me at that time that I would go to the Olympics and win a silver medal, I would have thought, “I’m not going to climb that.” I remember trying to climb a flight of stairs and when I was halfway up, I thought, “I can’t climb these stairs.”
“As an athlete, you always try to downplay these things and I was like, ‘I’m fine. ‘ But being that weak was scary. You can’t rush injuries, but you can do a lot about them. But with this, I just had to get back on my feet.”
Both had to contend with the madness of the Madison (named after New York’s famous Square Garden where it was first held) and also the unexpected first laps of the Dutch and Italians, which earned them 20 points and posed a serious threat to British ambitions.
They entered the race as leading contenders after winning the format at the World Championships.
Italy, who never looked back after taking the lead with a 20-point sprint, calmly crossed the line in first place, while the Netherlands dropped to bronze.
But the Barker-Evans duo remained at or near the top after every sprint. Nothing could be ruled out, but nothing was assured before that happily successful final. They are now proud holders of two silver medals each, adding to their successes in the team pursuit in Tokyo in 2021.
This time, Barker was watched by her two-year-old son, Nico. This has become a Mothers’ Olympics. “A beautiful memory on days like this with Nico,” she said, managing to get up from the floor to speak despite her exhaustion.
‘You get the best of both worlds. I can combine my exercise and my social life into a neat four-hour block, which not many parents can do. Then I can come home and spend the rest of the day with my little one. He’s changing so much, it’s a very special time. He provides that distraction for me.’
A few minutes after the silver medal, a second medal, this time bronze for Great Britain, was won by 27-year-old Jack Carlin, after a repeat of the individual sprint that decided the victory after colliding with his Dutch rival, Jeffrey Hoogland, in a race that was suspended and restarted. How lucky was Jack!
But what a success story, considering the Scot broke his ankle in April. He has 19 international medals, and surprisingly none of them gold. He immediately apologised for his mistake (he appeared to lose control) at low speed. It was not in the heat of combat. There was no danger in what he did. Nor did there seem to be any ill intent involved.
The race consists of 120 laps divided into 12 sprints, and in each of them, the riders are awarded points based on their final position.
Barker then bravely bucked the trend and pulled three magical final laps out of nowhere to claim a valuable silver.
But we would have complained like crazy if the situation had been reversed.
Meanwhile, Emma Finucane’s quest to become the first British woman to win three medals at a single Games continues after she reached the quarter-finals of the individual sprint today.
Her teammate Sophie Capewell also advanced to the rounds of 32 and 16. The final will be tomorrow.