Aaron Gate, centre, and Tom Sexton, left, shared the podium after finishing first and second in the men’s individual pursuit.
New Zealand’s track cyclists continued their golden start to the Commonwealth Games by bagging four more medals, three of them gold, on another fruitful day at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London.
The New Zealand national anthem was heard three times as Aaron Gate, Bryony Botha and Ellesse Andrews stood atop the podium after winning individual events.
New Zealand has been the best performing country on the track so far, winning eight medals, five of them gold, in the first two days of competition.
And there could be more to come with Andrews still to compete in the keirin, the event she announced herself in with a silver medal at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Gate won his second gold of the Birmingham Games after overhauling team-mate Tom Sexton to take out an all-New Zealand men’s individual pursuit final by 4.419 seconds.
24 hours after helping secure New Zealand’s first men’s team pursuit gold medal since 1990, Gate and Sexton found themselves racing against each other for gold after posting the fastest two times in qualifying, with Gate setting a Commonwealth Games record of 4:07.129.
Sexton went out super hard in the final and led by 1.4 seconds at the halfway point but he was unable to maintain a consistent pace and faded over the second half of the 4000m race, with Gate powering home to win in 4:07.760.
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Aaron Gate paced his ride to perfection to overhaul team-mate Tom Sexton in the second half of the individual pursuit.
Gate is the third New Zealand rider to win the men’s individual pursuit after Gary Anderson in 1990 and Mike Richards in 1978.
Botha also claimed her second medal of the competition, going one better than the silver she captured in the team pursuit after dominating the women’s individual pursuit final.
Botha broke her own Commonwealth Games record she set in qualifying, leading from start to finish to comfortably beat Australia’s Maeve Plouffe by a staggering 8.666 seconds.
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Bryony Botha celebrates on the podium after winning the individual pursuit.
The 24-year-old caught up to Plouffe at the finish of the 3000m race as she ducked under 3:19 for the first time in her career to post another world-class time of 3:18.456.
Botha is the fourth New Zealand rider to win gold in the women’s individual pursuit after Alison Shanks in 2010, Sarah Ulmer in 2002 and 1998 and Madonna Harris in 1990.
“I honestly cannot believe it,” she told Sky Sport. “I wasn’t too sure how my legs would feel. In the warm-up I was like it will be what it will be and when I got there I just felt awesome and I kept going and I carried it.
“I did not expect to catch her. Maeve’s a strong rider and I thought we would be pretty even. When I looked up and saw her there I was like I’m just going to use the draft and make the most of it.”
Andrews stunned reigning Olympic Games champion Kelsey Mitchell of Canada to win the women’s sprint, giving the 22-year-old her third medal and her second gold after leading New Zealand to team sprint glory.
Andrews came over the top of Mitchell and beat her more fancied opponent on the line in both of the first two heats.
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