The Para cycling pair of Emma Foy and Jessie Hodges got up off the floor literally to win New Zealand’s first track cycling gold medal on the opening night of finals at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
New Zealand earned four medals on the opening night of competition at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome led by the gold medal to Foy and Hodges.
Joining them on the podium comprised a silver medal for the women’s team pursuit and bronze medals to the men’s team pursuit and Para cycling star, Nicole Murray in the women’s C4-5 individual pursuit.
It was girl-power to the fore with Foy and Hodges producing a stunning ride to claim the gold medal in the third race decider against Australia.
Earlier the Australian pair of Jessica Gallagher and Jacqueline Mengler-Mohr, who won the first ride, lost control at the start of the second race, crashing into the kiwi pair. Foy and Hodges were patched up and returned to win the second race in a tight sprint but then dominate the third-race decider in emphatic fashion.
They worked hard to get around the Australians but once in the lead, they dominated their rivals to win by 2.65s with an average speed of a tick under 62kph.
It was a superb performance for Foy who returned to the sport last year after retiring five years ago, with the vision-impaired rider pairing up with Tokyo Olympian Hodges.
Para cycling enjoyed more success with Nicole Murray dominating her ride-off for the bronze medal in the C4-5 individual pursuit.
Murray, who narrowly missed out on qualifying for the gold medal ride, set a new world record of 5:06.199 to win the bronze medal, which was bettered by 0.4s in the final.
New Zealand scored medals in the 4000m team pursuit, with the women claiming the silver and the men the bronze.
The women’s combination of Ally Wollaston, Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman and Prue Fowler edged ahead of Australia in the final and held the lead until the midway in the 4000m final.
However, the Australian pushed back to grab the lead, going on to win in 4:10.695 with the New Zealand combination 1.4s back in second.
The team pursuit men were forced to fight back to win the bronze medal in the men’s 4000m team pursuit, taking until the final three laps to edge in front before going on to win by 1.75s.
It is another busy day for kiwi riders tomorrow with the women’s sprint, individual pursuit, and 10km scratch race with men’s elimination and individual pursuit in the morning session.
The evening session also features Sam Dakin in the keirin and Devon Briggs in the men’s Para cycling 1000m time trial.
Jessie Hodges and Emma Foy on the podium (SWpix).