By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Emmanuel Dunand.
Mountain-biker Alan Hatherly has won South Africa’s second medal of the Paris Olympics, taking bronze in the cross-country event on Monday afternoon.
Ranked fourth in the world going into the event, Hatherly led the pack through the first of eight laps in the 35.2km race. And while French rider Victor Koretzky was able to make a break, the South African was alone in second place at the halfway mark.
He was later passed by defending champion Tom Pidcock of Great Britain, who went on to win gold in 1:26:22, and Koretzky bagged silver in 1:26:31.
Hanging on in the closing stages, Hatherly crossed the finish line in third position, just two seconds further back in 1:26:33.
“It was an unbelievable race,” he said, still pinching himself. “It was both super fast and tactical. I managed to clear the charge early on and led for the first lap. The race started to happen after that and I got caught out a bit. I slipped back (to fifth) and had to chase hard to get back into the medal position.
“And when Tom had his mechanical (puncture) I moved up to second. My plan was to empty the tank the last two laps and with Tom coming back I held on to him as he made his way to the front. There was a massive battle for the medals on that last lap.
“It’s every athlete’s dream to get an Olympic medal and now that I have got one, I’m still lost for words. It’s going to take some time. It still hasn’t sunk in. It’s been a career goal of mine since I was a child. To have achieved it today is such a joy.
“I ticked all the boxes in terms of nothing going wrong and not making mistakes. It’s truly a dream come true for me to win a medal for Team SA at the Olympics.”
He became the first South African cyclist to earn a medal at the Games since 1956, and the first to achieve the feat in mountain bike racing.