- Matthew Richardson, a cyclist, helped the green and gold.
- Win the team sprint, giving Western Australia its first gold.
- At the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
Matthew Richardson, who helped his side to a dominant performance in the team event, became the first athlete from Western Australia.
o win an event as Australia claimed gold after medal in the cycling on day one.
As they swept to victory, Richardson and teammates Leigh Hoffman and Matthew Glaetzer broke a Commonwealth Games record, leaving the English riders in their wake.
With only one lap remaining, Richardson put the pedal to the metal and increased Australia’s lead to 0.85 seconds after Hoffman took the early sprint lead and contributed to a 0.2 second advantage.
Glaetzer expertly completed the relay to win the gold medal and establish a new game record of 42.040.
Conor Leahy, a classmate of Richardson’s at WAIS, helped Australia win the bronze medal in the 4000m team pursuit finals earlier in the evening, making him the first Sandgroper to win a medal at the games.
It was just one of many medals that Australian athletes brought home on the first day of competition in Birmingham, as the green and gold riders dominated the velodrome.
The women’s tandem B sprint best of three was won by Jessica Gallagher and Caitlin Ward after a strong start.
Shortly after, Australia won its second gold when the New Zealand foursome was defeated in the women’s 4000m team pursuit by Georgia Baker, Sophie Edwards, Chloe Moran, and Maeve Plouffe in a Games-record performance.
