Gold medal winning men's mountain biker Sam Gaze has apologised to silver medallist and NZ team-mate Anton Cooper after accusing him of bad sportsmanship at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport
Gaze suffered a puncture while leading into the last lap of the race, forcing him to stop.
Copper and South Africa's Alan Hatherly, who were on the heels of Gaze when he punctured, passed the former leader, before Gaze powered back to squeeze past Cooper near the end of the final lap and take gold.
Post race Gaze accused defending champion Cooper of being a poor sport for not stopping to help his team-mate.
New Zealand's Samuel Gaze with the gold medal shakes hands with Anton Cooper after the medal ceremony. Photo: PhotoSport
In a statement released this evening, Gaze apologised for his reaction, saying he thought his dream was over when he had the issue with his cycle.
"I reacted badly and want to apologise for my words and my actions. I am really embarrassed for how I acted and how the impact of how special of a day it was for New Zealand Cycling was tainted by my actions.
"I respect Anton and his ability to race hard and fast and I regret the way that I spoke right after the race. He is an incredible rider and together we put on a really exciting race today. I was proud that we could finish one-two again like we did in Glasgow and am grateful for the talent we are growing in New Zealand.
"I have caught up with Anton and apologised personally, but I wanted to let the NZ Team here on the Gold Coast and the NZ public know that I acted in the heat of the moment and will work on making sure this type of action doesn't happen again. Thanks for everyone's support. I am sorry that my actions have affected the public's view of how really special these Games have been."
Earlier, Cooper said mechanicals are part of mountain biking and stopping might have handed Hatherly the gold.
"I saw him pull into the tech zone so I was aware that something had happened, but I had absolutely no idea what. I thought it was pretty odd because we'd (Cooper and bronze medallist South African Alan Hatherly) followed him down the last downhill and through the start finish. His tyre looked fine, I heard he had a flat or something, so I thought I'm not going to stop and ask questions and see why. I was focusing on getting rid of the South African at that point.
"It wasn't until I was up the top (of the final lap) that I saw Sam (Gaze) only 15-20 metres behind so I figured he was charging hard and obviously didn't have to stop too long so it was touch and go right to the line. I knew he was coming hard and he's a very, very powerful rider and when he's got someone in his sights and he's very motivated, he's very hard rider to hold off.
"He won the last World Cup round so he's arguably the best rider in the world currently," Cooper said.
Cooper was disappointed not to have defended his title, but said the one-two finish, and compatriot Ben Oliver coming fourth, was a great result for New Zealand.
Photo: Andrew Cornaga / Photosport Ltd 2018
-RNZ
