Aberdeen paracyclist Neil Fachie admitted he did not have the legs to chase down a sixth Commonwealth Games gold medal in the tandem sprint.
He had won the title twice previously but was unable to complete a hat-trick, with Wales’ James Ball and Fachie’s former pilot Matt Rotherham taking gold in London.
Fachie was in imperious form in his heat, setting a new Games record to qualify fastest for the semi-finals. He and pilot Lewis Stewart then won the first two races against Welsh pair Lloyd Steffan and Alex Pope to make the final.
He had secured his fifth gold medal on Friday, coming from behind in dramatic fashion to win the Tandem B 1km time trial.
“I’ll be honest, warming up for it this afternoon my legs weren’t there,” said Fachie. “I didn’t tell Lewis and hoped adrenaline would come through on the day.
“I gave it my all and I’m sorry to everyone. I’ll hold my hands up. Lewis was phenomenal and deserved a gold medal.
“Look at that show out there. It’s about getting this out there in the mainstream – people watching tandem-racing at the highest level. It’s proper good racing.
“Those boys (Ball and Rotherham) deserved it. They were phenomenal. We pushed them as hard as we could.”
Aberdeenshire rider Neah Evans burst onto the world stage with a bronze in the points race four years ago and went one better with a silver on the track this time around.
Evans, who won bronze in the individual pursuit on Saturday, fought her way back into the race to take a hard-earned second spot behind Australia’s Georgia Baker.
“It was hard work,” said Evans. “Normally you’d think individual pursuit would be harder but that points race went on and on.
“From the first sprint it exploded and there was people everywhere. I was going to say organised chaos but it wasn’t that organised!
“The crowd was unreal – the sheer volume. Normally you can hear the coach shout instructions. Not this time. It was great fun.
“I’ll go out on Monday and race as hard as I can. I’ve clearly got good legs and I’ll see what I can do.”
She still has the scratch race, road race and time trial to come before the end of the Games.
Ellie Stone and Aileen McGlynn went in the final of the women’s Tandem B 1km time trial, on the back of their silver in the sprint on Friday.
The duo had appeared set to beat the time recorded by English pair Sophia Unwin and Georgia Holt, being ahead of the pack with 250m to go, but fell narrowly short by 0.024s in the final lap. Jessica Gallagher of Australia then surged through for gold in the final round to knock Aviemore’s Stone and McGlynn down into bronze.
“I’m a little bit disappointed in that one, just because I know what we could have got,” said Stone. “But I’m super happy to have got through it.
“It’s been so good to work with Aileen. I’ve learned a lot about racing and I’ve picked up skills I thought would have taken ages.”
Alness’ Kyle Gordon was involved in the terrifying crash at the velodrome, which saw England’s Matt Walls and Isle of Man’s Matt Bostock, plus spectators, requiring medical attention.
The crash occurred during the qualification for the men’s scratch race, which saw the remainder of the morning session abandoned as the velodrome was cleared.
Unfortunately we have just witnessed another big crash at the velodrome. Kyle Gordon was taken down but thankfully got up and got back on this bike.
Our thoughts with the two riders who are receiving medical attention 🙏
— Scottish Cycling (@ScottishCycling) July 31, 2022
Gordon was treated for a shoulder injury at the venue and was unable to compete in the final of the event in the evening session.
Forres’ Lauren Bell was in action in the 500m time trial, finishing in an impressive sixth spot after recording a time of 33.954s.
North Kessock squash star Greg Lobban advanced to the last eight of the men’s singles, after a topsy-turvy 3-2 win over Malaysia’s Chee Wern Yuen. He will face Saurav Ghosal on Monday at 2.15pm.
His fellow Highlander Alan Clyne could not make it two out of two though, as he was defeated by Wales’ Joel Makin 3-0.
Paddy Kelly and Jacob Henry were involved as the Scotland rugby sevens squad finished in sixth place. They beat Kenya 22-12 in the 5-8 semi-final, before a 24-19 defeat to Samoa brought the curtain down on their competition.
Turriff’s netball captain Claire Maxwell was in action for the Thistles, as Scotland took on Wales in their crunch pool game at the NEC. Scotland were always playing catch-up but despite a late fourth-quarter surge, they went down 48-42.
Banchory swimmer Tom Beeley missed out on a place in the final of the men’s 200m butterfly, coming third in his heat.
