All the medals from our Aussie riders
It was a Golden Games for Australia as we closed out our campaign in Paris fourth on the medal tally, making it the most successful Olympic games for Australia.
Among the 460 athletes were 25 riders representing Australia across various cycling disciplines, of which 11 walked away with medals and made their mark on the global stage.
Here’s a closer look at the Aussies who made it to the podium and into the history books:
Individual Time Trial:
Gold Medal:
Grace Brown claimed the first Gold Medal for Australia after a remarkable performance in the Individual Time Trial event. In challenging weather conditions, Brown was second to last off the ramp with defending champion Chloe Dygert to follow. After passing every checkpoint faster than her competitors, Brown completed the 32.4km time trial in 39:38.24 and became the first Australian to win a gold medal in that event. Brown will be retiring from cycling with Olympic Champion to her name, cementing her legacy as one of Australia's cycling greats.
Track Cycling:
Gold Medals:
The Australian men’s team came out firing as they set the world record and Olympic record in the Men’s Team Pursuit in Heat 4 at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome. Sam Welsford, Kelland O’Brien, Oliver Bleddyn, and Conor Leahy lined up for the final against Great Britain in what was a nail-biting race. The Aussies were fiercely focused, and with only milliseconds between the teams, the boys came out on top to claim gold, making it the first time since 2004 that Australia has won the event.
Silver Medals:
Matthew Richardson was victorious on the track in Paris, claiming silver medals in both the Men’s Sprint and Men’s Keirin. Richardson went head-to-head in the Sprint with reigning champion and Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen, who has won five consecutive world titles. In the qualifying race, Richardson set a world and Olympic record, becoming the first man in history to go below the 9.1-second mark. It was a short-lived feat as minutes later, Lavreysen broke the record again, beating Richardson by 0.003 seconds. In the final, Richardson was outsprinted by Lavreysen, but it was still Australia’s best performance in the men’s event since the 2004 Olympics.
In the Men’s Keirin, Richardson again battled it out with Lavreysen but had fellow Aussie Matthew Glaetzer in the mix. The pair couldn’t get ahead, with Richardson finishing just +0.056 behind the great Dutchman.
Bronze Medals:
It was double the green and gold on the podium in the Men’s Keirin, with Matthew Glaetzer securing his second medal of the games. After navigating through a chaotic final turn, he crossed the line in third place – securing bronze. It was Glaetzer’s first Olympic medal after placing fourth multiple times in his previous three Olympics.
The Men’s Team Sprint also secured bronze, adding to Australia’s track success. Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson, and Matthew Glaetzer went head-to-head with the French team on their home soil. The team made a last-minute change, swapping lead-out rider Hoffman—known as one of the great starters in the world—for Glaetzer. Although they had not trained in these positions during the entire Olympic campaign, the risk paid off. The powerhouse duo of Hoffman and Richardson finished strong in the last three laps, and Australia walked away with the bronze medals.
BMX:
Gold Medal:
It was one of the most inspiring stories to come out of the Olympics. Saya Sakakibara winning gold in the BMX Race after a raft of personal struggles was deeply emotional and filled households across the country with tears of joy. Saya followed in the footsteps of her older brother Kai and took up BMX racing. In 2020, Kai suffered a life-changing brain injury after a crash in a World Cup race in Bathurst. The incident greatly affected Saya, and she nearly quit the sport but eventually overcame the fear and started racing again. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Saya had a crash of her own and was taken away concussed on a stretcher. She suffered more concussions and injuries in 2022 and was diagnosed with COVID the week of her Paris race. Overcoming the physical and mental trauma, Saya powered through the 400m course and demonstrated incredible speed and precision on the track to win in 34.231 seconds.
BMX Freestyle:
Bronze Medal:
After qualifying for the finals in eighth position, Natalya Diehm saved her best tricks until last to claim the bronze medal in BMX Freestyle. She scored 88.80 points in the final and had to wait nervously to see if her competitors would push her out of contention. Failing to do so, the bronze medal went to Diehm, who claimed her first Olympic medal of her career.
Other news out of Paris:
While so many Aussies had success on the bike, for Luke Plapp it was far from the Olympics he had planned. Plapp was in a strong position during the Individual Time Trial when he crashed into a steel barricade not long past the 13 km checkpoint. He suffered horrific injuries and had emergency surgery to repair his torn bowel and spleen. It was later revealed that Plapp waited for almost 30 minutes before he was attended to by Paris Olympics medical staff. Plapp will rest and recover in Australia but already has his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Other news that emerged from the Olympics was that after an impressive 17 Games, legendary cycling commentator Phil Liggett announced that Paris would be his final Olympics. At 81 years old, the ‘voice of cycling’ called his final Olympic event with the women’s road race. While Liggett has announced that he is retiring from Olympic commentary, he’s not finished commentating cycling just yet.
