Stephanie Morton and Kaarle Mcculloch (Australia) riding to one-two in the Keirin(Image credit: Getty Images)
Matt Glaetzer (Australia) celebrating his kilo gold(Image credit: Getty Images)
Matt Glaetzer (Australia) riding to gold and a games record in the kilo(Image credit: Getty Images)
Three gold medals on the fourth and final night of track racing at the Commonwealth Games ensured Australia finished top of the track medal tally. The ten gold medals eclipsing the total 2014 Glasgow haul of seven across track, road and mountain biking.
Stephanie Morton was the most successful of the Australian track squad with the 27-year-old winning three golds, Keirin, sprint and team sprint, and claiming silver behind teammate Kaarle McCulloch in the 500 m time trial. On the men's side, there was dual gold for Matthew Glaetzer in the kilo and Keirin while Sam Welsford added the scratch race gold to team pursuit victory in world record time.
There was also gold medal success for Amy Cure in the scratch race and the women's team pursuit squad.
Morton, the 2014 sprint gold medallist, was the star performer of the track squad but explained it was a full team effort that assisted her to the triple gold haul.
"I wanted to win the sprint, team sprint and the keirin. 500 I just wanted to ride a pb. I rode out of my skin to get close to Kaarle," Morton said. "I literally ticked every box I wanted to coming into these champs, I'm just so happy.
"There has been a lot of work behind the scenes but we have such a great squad. We've got no prima donnas or people that are hard work and that environment is flourishing on the track. We get behind each other and that internal pressure is working wonders – everyone has come out and been really dominant."
McCulloch, 30, was the one rider to spoil Morton's clean sweep and added gold in the 500-metre time trial eight years after winning silver in the same event in Dehli.
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"Anna Meares pulled me aside and said only a Meares girl has won this title. I want a McCulloch to win," said McCulloch. "I feel like I've done it justice. I got into this sport because of her. To take that title tonight on her track is dream come true after winning her first individual Commonwealth gold and Australia's fifth consecutive 500m sprint title."
Despite qualifying fastest in the sprint, Glaetzer was knocked out of the event at the first hurdle on day 3 of racing. Redemption was swift for the 25-year-old as he set a new sea level record of 59.340 seconds in the kilo to further enhance his status as one of the top sprinters on the track.
"It was big today ... after a shocking day yesterday," Glaetzer said. "I had to regroup, sometimes things don't go the way you plan them. This is really good to come back and prove to yourself that you can do it, get one up for Australia, because I owed them one for yesterday, so I am over the moon."
The final gold medal of the evening was won by Cure with the Tasmanian going one better than her silver medal from the 2014 scratch race. The win set up by a dominant team performance lead by defending champion Annette Edmondson and assisted by Ashlee Ankudinoff.
"It was amazing. I was a bit disappointed yesterday but I came out with a different mindset. The girls backed me and gave me the perfect ride. I can't thank the girls enough. We went with a plan and executed it perfectly," said Cure.
Scotland was the next best performing nation on the track with four gold medals while England claimed three. New Zealand was the only other nation to win multiple gold medals.
The cycling continues on the Gold Coast Tuesday with the men and women's time trials. The mountain bike events take place Thursday with the road races held Saturday.
