Tabotta suggests less focus to placed on world championships ahead of 2020 games
Image 1 of 5
Nathan Hart, Matthew Glaetzer and Patrick Constable of Australia compete in the Men's Team Sprint
Anna Meares (Australia) seals bronze
Annette Edmondson (Australia)
Michael Hepburn, Jack Bobridge, Sam Welsford and Alexander Edmondson on the podium(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Australia await their team pursuit ride in Rio - first round
The review into Australia's performance and lack of medals on the Rio Velodrome at the 2016 Olympic Games is already under review with Cycling Australia high performance director Kevin Tabotta leading the inquiry. Cycling Australia had targeted five medals on the track but return home with just two medals, a silver and bronze. Australia's best hopes for a gold medal wrest upon the shoulders of Caroline Buchanan in the women's BMX.
In contrast, every single member of Great Britain's track squad will take home a medal.
The men's team pursuit squad set a new national record of 3:51.008 but lost the final to Great Britain, repeating its result from London 2012. Anna Meares' bronze in the Keirin is Australia's only other cycling medal to date from Rio.
"We'll look at the good, the bad, the ugly," Tabotta said according to The Sydney Morning Herald. "We've had an average week, and we know it's not a good time to have it. We're hurting, the athletes are hurting and we're not happy about this.
"We didn't get it right here, we're going to try to get it right that's for sure. And what we can promise you is people aren't going to go back and sit with their heads in their cereal bowls and wonder what's next. We'll go back and be right on the case and we'll be trying to work out what the next steps are."
Tabotta suggested that those next steps may include Australia placing less of an emphasis on the World Championships than it has in the past.
"It may take us to actually take a step back and really take a thrust into an Olympic Games from a couple of years out," he said. "Now that's going to take some understanding from funders, and also from athletes because there's an expectation now in Australia to perform every time we line up at a world championship.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"I will also highlight that's no excuse. At the end of the day we came here to win medals and we'd set ourself at least five medals off the track here and we've walked away with two.
"We need to master an August peak and we haven't nailed that yet."
While it was off the mark in certain events on the track, Australia came close to winning bronze in the men's sprint as Matt Glaetzer finished fourth and the men's sprint team also lost its bronze medal final.
