FORMER Horsham cyclist Tim Decker has returned home from the Rio Olympics having guided Australia’s men’s pursuit team to a silver medal.
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It took a world record time for Great Britain to win gold ahead of Australia on day seven of the games.
Great Britain’s time of 3.50.26 broke the team’s own world record set in the first round of heats.
Australia’s time of 3.51.0 would have been good enough for a new world record prior to the Rio Olympics.
Having targeted gold, the silver medal left Decker with mixed emotions.
“I was proud of the performance but at the same time a little shattered,” he said.
“We wanted gold. You can’t take anything away from the team because they did what was required but on the day Great Britain were 0.74 of a second faster.”
While in Rio, so much of Decker’s focus was on the cycling that most of his experience was within the village.
“Because I was running training sessions once or twice a day I didn’t get a lot of down time,” he said.
“Any time I had was spent watching other events in the Australian hub.”
Decker described his time in Rio as amazing.
“Rio was beautiful,” he said.
“To be in the village, that bubble with all those people was a great feeling.”
Decker did not have time to rest upon returning to Australia.
“We’ve got a review of the Olympics coming up in three weeks time,” he said.
“That will look at how everything went and what can be improved on.
“Then we start planning for the next four-year cycle and the next Olympics.”
He is hoping to guide the Australian team through the cycle and have another go at winning gold in Tokyo.
“There’s a reason why the Olympics are only held every four years,” he said.
“It brings the whole world together and it brings magnificent athletes together in a great celebration.
“It was great to be part of that.”