Monday, September 18, 2000
Cycling News Online

McGregor adds to medal tally

It is just as well the cyclists are so successful at these Games, otherwise the British ranking in the medal table would be considerably less healthy.

McGregor wins bronze

After the gold of Jason Queally and the silver in the team sprint, Yvonne McGregor yesterday became the first British female ever to win an Olympic medal when she finished third in the women’s 3,000 metres individual pursuit.

Four years ago, McGregor lost in the race for the bronze medal, and yesterday was a splendid compensation. She said: "I knew I had to ride a controlled race. I couldn’t go all out. I had to ride efficiently."

Her opponent, Sarah Ulmer, of New Zealand, led 39-year-old McGregor right up to the final half-lap. But with 125 metres remaining, the Briton took the lead for the first time as the two cyclists chased each other on opposite sides of the track.

She said: "I was on my schedule for the first 2km and I just kept saying, 'Come on, you’re catching up'. I kept putting on the pressure and my legs felt tired although I was still strong. I heard the gun go off on my side first [to signify the end of the race] and then it was all tears."

McGregor recorded 3min 38.850sec, her opponent 3min 38.930sec. The gold medal went to Leontien Moorsel-Zijlaard, of The Netherlands.

McGregor’s Olympic success is long overdue in British cycling. When Beryl Burton, one of Britain’s greatest sportswomen, was at her peak nearly 40 years ago, women’s cycling was not in the Olympics, the first events being added to the programme only in 1984.

For McGregor, from Wilmslow, the medal comes as a justified and long-awaited reward for an extraordinarily versatile sporting career. She competed in the English schools cross-country championships before turning to fell running, where she finished eighth at the world championships.

Then she took up triathlon and was 18th in the European long-course championships before specialising in cycling in 1991. At last she had found her true vocation, winning the gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in the points race when she was so frightened to ride in a bunch that she took off and lapped the field. The following year, she set a world one-hour record covering 47.411km in Manchester.

After the disappointment of her fourth place in the individual pursuit in Atlanta, McGregor finished third for the same discipline at the 1997 world championships. Now, with her Olympic bronze medal, she has rounded off her career as she has always wanted.

Britain also qualified yesterday for the semi-finals of the men’s 4,000m team pursuit with the quartet of Paul Manning, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Newton and Bryan Steel. They set an Olympic record in the qualifying round by recording 4:04.30, 1.9sec faster than France when they won the title in Atlanta.

However, the record did not last long. In the quarter-finals, the German team bettered the record with 4:01.810 ahead of Ukraine. Britain qualified in third position and France was fourth.

John Goodbody
The Times