It was Marcus Christie’s day to shine at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia today, when he finished seventh in the Men’s Time Trial with a time of 50.42.29 for the 38.5km race. Xeno Young was 25th in the same race with a time of 54.07.66. In the Women’s Time Trial Eileen Burns was 11th in her 25.5km race of truth.
The time trial course included two gruelling climbs, Christie was happy with his performance saying “All in all it was a very solid ride, and I’m very happy! It was a brutal course with a few 21% inclines. I rode a solid tempo and didn’t die off too much in the end. I rode the two climbs pretty well I thought.”
While Christie is no stranger to the international circuit, he is happy with his progress in recent months and is already setting his sights on new challenges – “I’m getting a lot closer to where I want to be. I might give the hour record a crack next! I think that event would be tailor made for me.”
In the women’s race Burns had the race of her life, finishing just over 5 minutes adrift of Australia’s Katrin Garfoot. New Zealand’s Linda Villumsen won silver with Hayley Simmonds from England taking bronze.
“Coming over the line I had nothing more to give physically,” said Burns after the race. “I could hear that I was second fastest of the riders that had come over the line by that stage. I missed out on the top ten by 13 seconds. I could go over my performance and pick times where I could have perhaps pulled that 13 seconds back, but I know on the finishing line I gave it my all.”
Not only was the course physically demanding, but it was technical too – “The course was technical and had two climbs, one of which was very steep, and this was tough for most of the riders. But fortunately, I had ridden it a number of times to get over the mental shock of facing a road that looked like a wall as you approached it!”
The course, which was along the Currumbin Beachfront, was praised by Burns – “It was a great course – brilliant road surface, and lovely to take a nice line on corners. There was amazing support from the public, lining the majority of the course, which was amazing!”
The Ballymena Road Club racer was humbled by her Commonwealth experience so far saying “I was emotional after the race, as being at the Commonwealth Games – representing Northern Ireland – is something I never even considered I could achieve when I was in school. I loved sport. I just want to say thank you to everyone for all the support at home in the run up to the Games and throughout. It’s overwhelming! And now for the Road Race…”
The Road Races for both the women and men take place next Saturday, with the focus now switching to mountain biking. Tomorrow will see Cameron Orr and Marc Potts in action in the mountain bike races in Nerang Mountain Bike Trails. The Commonwealth Games run from the 4th – 15th April in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Australia.
RESULTS:
Men’s Time Trial – 38.5km
Gold Cameron Meyer (Australia) 48.13.04
Silver Harry Tanfield (England) 48.43.30
Bronze Hamish Bond (New Zealand) 48.45.45
7th Marcus Christie (Northern Ireland) 50.42.29
25th Xeno Young (Northern Ireland) 54.07.66
Women’s Time Trial – 25.5km
Gold Katrin Garfoot (Australia) 35.08.09
Silver Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) 36.03.01
Bronze Hayley Simmonds (England) 36.2209
11th Eileen Burns (Northern Ireland) 40.21.53