AusCycling has apologised for the snapped handlebar debacle that price the lads’s staff pursuit squad its probability of a Tokyo Olympics gold medal. A damning report launched on Thursday has made 14 suggestions after the handlebar on Alex Porter’s bike snapped early within the staff pursuit qualifying journey, sending him face-planting onto the velodrome boards at about 60kph.
Porter suffered quite a few wounds, together with friction burns to his face, however he prevented extra critical accidents. The staff was additionally fortunate that Porter was on the rear of the four-man paceline when his accident occurred, in any other case he would have introduced down a number of teammates.
Whereas the staff pursuit squad rallied to win the bronze medal, the incident ruined their hopes of gold. Porter’s crash got here to symbolise one other poor efficiency from the Australian monitor biking staff on the Olympics. The staff pursuit bronze was their solely medal – Australia’s lowest medal at an Olympic velodrome for the reason that 1980 Video games.
“We apologise to Alex and his fellow riders, to the broader Australian Olympic staff and to the Australian public, all of whom have been entitled to anticipate higher,” AusCycling chief government Marne Fechner mentioned. “The suggestions are very clear, in that there’s an entire overhaul required in how we go about our enterprise.”
Porter mentioned in an AusCycling assertion that he accepted the findings. “I acknowledge the work that has gone into the report and the many individuals who’ve contributed to a greater understanding of what occurred in Tokyo,” he mentioned. “I additionally respect AusCycling’s transparency and acknowledge their apology to all of us who rode within the staff pursuit.”
The report by mechanical and aeronautical engineer John Baker discovered two important components specifically contributed to Porter’s crash.
“The primary was an insufficient specification for custom-built handlebars, the second was the failure to conduct enough fatigue testing,” AusCycling mentioned. “The report discovered {that a} lack of enough processes and insurance policies meant that the problems weren’t detected and rectified earlier than the staff raced on the Video games.”
