Speaker 1: Australia has no shortage of sporting champions. It's no secret
Speaker 1: that we love a winner. Those who achieve success are
Speaker 1: showered with praise and sometimes those who don't are unfairly criticized.
Speaker 1: But winning medals isn't everything when you think about it.
Speaker 1: Making it on the world stage is achievement enough. And
Speaker 1: often we learn more from our failures than we do
Speaker 1: from our victories, So maybe it's time to honor those
Speaker 1: mistakes and missed opportunities. Take Shane Kelly for example. He's
Speaker 1: one of Australia's cycling greats. On the one hand, he
Speaker 1: made things look easy when it came to the Commonwealth
Speaker 1: Games and World Championships. He cleaned up. But whenever the
Speaker 1: Olympics rolled around, the one thing he wanted, that gold medal,
Speaker 1: proved elusive time and time again. Gooday, I'm Tony Armstrong
Speaker 1: and welcome to the pool. This is where we celebrate
Speaker 1: the winners, losers and the weird stuff between. Shane Kelly
Speaker 1: hails from the town of Arrarat in Victoria. Maybe it's
Speaker 1: Goldfield history inspired young Shane to go after shiny medals.
Speaker 1: Growing up in a sports mad family probably helped to
Speaker 1: He received his first bike when he was around four
Speaker 1: years old. As Shane got older, he took a keen
Speaker 1: interest in track cycling. He won his first major titles
Speaker 1: as a junior at eighteen years old, competing in the
Speaker 1: Australian National Track Championships of nineteen ninety. Further success followed
Speaker 1: in the World Championships for Juniors, claiming first in the
Speaker 1: kilo event and third in the elimination. Shane was well
Speaker 1: and truly ready for the big time, representing Australia in
Speaker 1: the Olympic Games. He announced his arrival to the world
Speaker 1: at Barcelona nineteen ninety two, coming within a second of
Speaker 1: the gold medal winner from Spain for the one thousand
Speaker 1: meter time trial. But Shane wasn't complaining about silver. His
Speaker 1: professional cycling career was about to take off. The following year,
Speaker 1: Shane claimed his first senior world title before his debut
Speaker 1: at the Commonwealth Games in nineteen ninety four. With a
Speaker 1: time of one minute and five point three eight six seconds,
Speaker 1: he won his first gold medal for Australia. Then in
Speaker 1: ninety five, he set a new world record at the
Speaker 1: International Championships for the one kilometer time trial one minute
Speaker 1: and six hundred and thirteen milliseconds. He was given the
Speaker 1: nickname minute Man, and his record stood for nearly two
Speaker 1: twenty years. The person who broke it, by the way,
Speaker 1: was another Rossie, Matthew Glaitzer. He became the first cyclist
Speaker 1: to smash the one minute mark in the same event
Speaker 1: at sea level. That's incredible. Anyway, back to Shane Kelly.
Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety six, the Olympic Games headed to Atlanta,
Speaker 1: and so did Shane. He'd become the best cyclist in
Speaker 1: the world and was the favorite to take home the gold.
Speaker 1: But Shane was about to experience his first taste of failure.
Speaker 1: Track cycling events begin with a stationary start. The bike's
Speaker 1: rear wheel is clamped in place to prevent riders from
Speaker 1: jumping the gun. Therefore, the way you take off determines
Speaker 1: the success of your whole race. Naturally, cyclists practiced this
Speaker 1: over and over again, but when the pressure is on,
Speaker 1: mistakes happen, and unfortunately for Shane, it unfolded in front
Speaker 1: of the entire world at the worst moment the gold
Speaker 1: medal race he was supposed to win. The crowd in
Speaker 1: the velodrome that day was buzzing with excitement. Shane was
Speaker 1: the world record holder and the world champion. They were
Speaker 1: there to see history unfold. But as the starting buzzer chimed,
Speaker 1: Shane's race was already over. His left foot came loose
Speaker 1: from the pedal strap and the rear wheel of his
Speaker 1: bike hopped as he took off, Shane knew straight away
Speaker 1: what it meant. For a brief moment, his instincts kicked in.
Speaker 1: He tried to pick up speed and keep going, but
Speaker 1: he shot at the gold medal was ruined. He slowed
Speaker 1: down as he swerved off the track, waving to the
Speaker 1: crowd as if to say, sorry, I messed up, but
Speaker 1: thanks for the support. There was no restart and Shane
Speaker 1: didn't finish the time trial. Heroically, Shane Kelly was able
Speaker 1: to put the bitter disappointment behind him. Just four weeks
Speaker 1: after the disaster in Atlanta, he won two gold medals
Speaker 1: at the World Championships. Then he won gold again the
Speaker 1: next year, making it three in a row for the
Speaker 1: time trial event. More success followed in the Commonwealth Games,
Speaker 1: winning gold in nineteen ninety eight. In two thousand, another
Speaker 1: opportunity presented itself with the Olympics on home soil. At
Speaker 1: twenty eight years old. It looked to be Shane's best
Speaker 1: chance at Olympic gold. He was still competing at the
Speaker 1: top level, but it seemed like the rest of the
Speaker 1: world was beginning to catch up. Shane won bronze in
Speaker 1: the time trial. It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but
Speaker 1: it was still an Olympic medal in front of an
Speaker 1: adoring Australian audience. At this stage of his career, Shane
Speaker 1: had learned and to enjoy every win, big or small,
Speaker 1: and really has nothing small about the Olympic Games. And
Speaker 1: Shane still wasn't done. He won bronze in Athens in
Speaker 1: two thousand and four, then another in Melbourne. At the
Speaker 1: two thousand and six Common Games. At Beijing, he came
Speaker 1: close to more medals, placing fourth in two cycling events.
Speaker 1: Shane Kelly's career might not have panned out the way
Speaker 1: that many expected, but it unfolded exactly the way it
Speaker 1: was supposed to. Shane went through the kind of heartbreaking
Speaker 1: moment that all athletes dread, but it's what shaped him
Speaker 1: as a cyclist and as a person. History can keep
Speaker 1: that elusive Olympic gold because even without it, Shane Kelly
Speaker 1: is still one of the best to ever do it,
Speaker 1: and no one can take that away from him. You've
Speaker 1: been listening to an iHeart production the poolroom with me,
Speaker 1: Tony Armstrong. Catch you next time.