Commonwealth Games 2022: New Zealand cyclists claim more medals on the track

Bryony Botha. Photo / Photosport

New Zealand's cyclists have backed up their four-medal haul from day one, adding another quartet of medals to the mix on day two at the Commonwealth Games.

The Kiwi individual pursuit cyclists produced the best possible performance on the track, with a three-medal haul, before Ellesse Andrews stunningly took down Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell in the women's sprint to win gold.

It was the third gold of the day, with Bryony Botha and Aaron Gate both claiming gold in the individual pursuit, and Tom Sexton claiming silver, beaten by Gate in an all-Kiwi final.

Botha began another medal-packed day on the track for New Zealand, winning gold in the women's 3000m individual pursuit in a Commonwealth Games record time, destroying Australian opponent Maeve Plouffe by 8.666 seconds.

It was such a dominating performance that she nearly lapped Plouffe, catching her on the line, with her 3:18:456 time 1.4 seconds faster than her time in qualifying, which was also a Games record.

"It was such a shock, I did not expect to catch her, Maeve's a strong rider and I thought we'd be pretty even, so when I looked up and saw her there I thought 'wow'," Botha told Sky Sport.

"I honestly cannot believe it. Coming into this race I just wanted to get a PB and a 1.5 second PB is pretty big so I'm stoked with that."

Gate also set a Games record in qualifying for the men's 4000m individual pursuit, beating the record that Sexton had set 20 minutes earlier as Kiwis dominated at the velodrome.

The pair were guaranteed to take gold and silver, with the only question left being which Kiwi would take top spot on the podium.

Sexton flew out of the blocks in an attempt to blow Gate away, leading by 1.581 seconds after the first 1000m, but Gate held the gap steady at 1.444 seconds at the halfway stage, and then rapidly hauled in his teammate.

The gap evaporated by the time the pair reached the 2750m mark, and from there the result was never in doubt, with Gate cruising to a win by 4.419 seconds, finishing 0.6 seconds outside his Games record time.

The pair already had a bronze medal in their collection, after being part of the team pursuit squad that finished third yesterday, while Botha's gold came just 24 hours after she won silver as a member of the women's team pursuit.

Andrews also added another medal to her rapidly burgeoning haul, with a brilliant sprint victory.

A year after being beaten by Mitchell by 0.005 seconds in the 1/8 round at the Olympics in Tokyo, Andrews took her revenge, dethroning the Olympic champion with two powerful rides.

Mitchell was the top qualifier and had not lost a race all event, but Andrews came from behind on both occasions to overpower the Canadian and storm past on the line.

The first race was incredibly tight – just 0.003 seconds in it as Andrews won the photo finish - but there was no doubt about her second victory as the 22-year-old produced another highlight in an already brilliant career.

In the men's keirin, Callum Saunders finished fifth in the final, while Sam Webster (seventh) and Sam Dakin (10th) could only make the classification final.