GOLD COAST, Australia: Sam Gaze’s elation at winning the Commonwealth Games’ mountain biking gold medal on Thursday quickly turned sour after he criticised New Zealand group mate and silver medallist Anton Cooper of bad sportsmanship. He later provided an apology for his comments. Gaze, who ended up second behind Cooper at Glasgow 4 years earlier, reversed the result on the Nerang mtb tracks regardless of needing to stop and have actually a puncture fixed on the final lap. Cooper, nevertheless, continued to race and attempted to pull away from the 22-year-old Gaze, who still managed to capture his compatriot and South Africa’s Alan Hatherly on the last lap of the 32.2-kilometre circuit and win by about two bike lengths. Gaze was not impressed by the reality Cooper had exploited his bad luck. In road cycling usually the peleton will slow if the leader has suffered mechanical difficulties. “There readies sportsmanship and there’s not, and I seem like that wasn’t there today,” Gaze stated of Cooper’s choice to ride away. “It’s a little an embarassment truly, I’ve got the utmost respect for the person, still, even with that relocation. “That’s racing, you can’t get along with everyone.” Cooper said that he at first had no concept why Gaze had actually temporarily stopped. “I saw him pull into the tech zone so I knew that something had happened but I had no idea what,” he told Radio New Zealand. “I believed it was odd since we followed him down the last downhill and through the start-finish location and his tire looked fine. “I heard he had a flat or something but I believed I’m not going to relax and ask concerns why. “If you have a leak in a mountain bicycle race it’s a personal mistake. That’s the part of mountain bike racing, it’s not roadway racing. We return on and simply fracture on.” Gaze later on released an apology for his comments and stated he realised they had taken the gloss off the second 1-2 finish for the duo at the Commonwealth Games. “I have caught up with Anton and apologised personally,” Gaze stated in a statement later. “I acted in the heat of the moment … and wish to apologise for my words and my actions. “I am actually ashamed for how I acted and how the impact of how special of a day it was for New Zealand Biking was polluted by my actions.” (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
mate, apologises GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA: Sam Gaze’s elation at winning the Commonwealth Games ‘mountain biking gold medal on Thursday quickly turned sour after he criticised New Zealand group mate and silver medallist Anton Cooper of poor sportsmanship. He later on released an apology for his remarks. Gaze, who finished second behind Cooper at Glasgow four years back, reversed the outcome on the Nerang mtb trails despite having to stop and have a puncture fixed on the final lap. Cooper, however, continued to race and attempted to retreat from the 22-year-old Gaze, who still managed to catch his compatriot and South Africa’s Alan Hatherly on the final lap of the 32.2-kilometre circuit and win by about two bike lengths. Gaze was not impressed by the fact Cooper had exploited his misfortune. In road cycling generally the peleton will slow if the leader has suffered mechanical difficulties. “There readies sportsmanship and there’s not, and I seem like that was n`t there today,” Gaze stated of Cooper’s decision to ride away. “It’s a bit of a shame actually, I’ve got the utmost regard for the person, still, even with that move. “That’s racing, you ca n`t agree everybody.” Cooper said that he initially had no idea why Gaze had actually briefly stopped. “I saw him pull into the tech zone so I knew that something had occurred however I had no idea what,” he informed Radio New Zealand. “I thought it was odd since we followed him down the last downhill and through the start-finish location and his tire looked fine. “I heard he had a flat or something but I believed I’m not going to sit around and ask concerns why. “If you have a leak in a mtb race it’s an individual mistake. That’s the part of mountain bike racing, it’s not road racing. We return on and simply fracture on.” Gaze later on released an apology for his remarks and said he realised they had taken the gloss off the 2nd 1-2 surface for the duo at the Commonwealth Games. “I have overtaken Anton and apologised personally,” Gaze said in a declaration later on. “I acted in the heat of the moment … and wish to apologise for my words and my actions. “I am actually ashamed for how I acted and how the impact of how special of a day it was for New Zealand Cycling was polluted by my actions.”
See all stories on this subject
