Athens Olympics dual gold medalist Ryan Bayley brings the Queens Baton into Limestone Park.
Ryan Bayley is a former world champion cyclist who now calls Ipswich home. He took time out from the Commonwealth Games to talk about athletes, atmosphere and the Aussie team’s culture.
Ryan Bayley burst onto the cycling scene with gold medals in the sprint and keirin at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
He also struck gold twice each at the 2002 Manchester and 2006 Melbourne games, retiring with five commonwealth medals, and was inducted into the Cycling Australia Hall of Fame in 2016.
Once famously dubbed ‘The KFC Kid’ for his love of fast food, Bayley relocated to Ipswich in 2009 and has spent the past week keeping a close eye on the Aussies at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
“The attitude of the Australian athletes looks great,” he said.
“That’s one thing I was worried about – would they be a bit entitled and expect to win – but they’ve been really impressive getting gold and carried themselves just as well when they’re outside the medals.
“Our athletes copped a bit of a knock after their performances at Rio, especially the swimmers, and they’ve done well to bounce back and do it with class and the right attitude.”
Bayley was one of 45 people to carry the Queen’s Baton in Ipswich on 29 March.
Since then he’s spent his time moving between Gold Coast venues and getting out of his comfort zone.
“I’ve been around to a few different sports that I’m not usually associated with and I’m really enjoying it – things like the beach volleyball, hockey and athletics,” Bayley said.
“The beach volleyball is absolutely amazing. I know everyone always talks about their skimpy outfits and all the rest but the atmosphere from the crowd and the athleticism of the competitors is just so good.”
WATCH: Ryan Bayley blitzes the field at the 2004 Athens Olympics keirin final.
Away from the beach and closer to the boards where he blew by fellow riders, Bayley took great pride in Australia’s recent velodrome victories.
The hosts collected 19 medals – 10 gold, three silver and six bronze – led by a world record ride from the men’s team pursuit.
“There’s a massive amount of talent in the Australian track team and some of the speed is incredible,” Bayley said of the success.
“Obviously it wasn’t a perfect Commonwealth Games, we made a few mistakes with the men’s team sprint and Matthew Glaetzer’s sprint, but there is just so much speed.
“Some of our major competition wasn’t there with no France and no Germany but New Zealand has stepped up recently and I thought we handled them really well.
“(New Cycling Australia mentors) Ross Edgar, Simon Jones and Jon Norfolk have done some amazing things with endurance training and you could see that with the team pursuit.
“That ride was so clean and organised with perfect technique and execution. I don’t think they could have gone any faster, it’s almost impossible.”
Ryan Bayley at the Commonwealth Games and Olympics
- 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games: Sprint (gold), team sprint (gold)
- 2004 Athens Olympics: Sprint (gold), keirin (gold)
- 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games: Keirin (gold), sprint (gold), team sprint (bronze)
Go for gold.
