Aussie cyclists on road to redemptionAs recently as the 2004 Olympics in Athens Australia were the undisputed top dogs - winning five golds to Great Britain's two, nine medals in total to GB's four.
Yet just four years later, at the Laoshan velodrome, Australia's humiliation was complete as they crept away with just one medal - a silver from Anna Meares in the women's sprint - compared with Britain's seven golds and 12 medals overall.
Falls from grace have rarely been more spectacular. "2008 was a huge wake-up call for us and hit home all the more because it was the ‘Poms' wining all the golds and showing us exactly what the new standards were," admits Gary Sutton, head cycling coach at the NSW Institute of Sport and a key figure in Australia's revival.
And, yes, he is the older brother of GB coach Shane Sutton, one of life's delicious little ironies.
Read more at the Daily Telegraph UK ...
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