Welsford Chasing #Rio2016
The stars seem to be aligning for emerging talent Sam Welsford on the Road to Rio with the 20-year-old cyclist breaking glass ceilings and delivering some outstanding performances to put him in prime position for selection at this year’s Olympic Games.
Welsford formed part of the Australian team pursuit squad that threw down a challenge to rivals Great Britain in the lead up to the Olympics, by winning the 4000-metre endurance event at the World Championships in London on their rivals’ home soil.
Welsford teamed with Michael Hepburn, Miles Scotson and Callum Scotson and in the face of a parochial British crowd, clocked a time of three minutes, 52.727 seconds to win by an impressive 1.129 seconds over the home nation heroes.
Welsford took front wheel on the final lap and a half, who as a self-described, “naturally fast finisher” found his legs when it mattered most.
“When we heard their gun go off a second after ours it was incredible,” he said of the moment he realised he was a world champion. “We all just looked at each other and knew how much it meant for us to beat these guys after they beat us at our home ground, Melbourne in 2012,” he added.
Welsford’s performance came after his first National title win in the individual pursuit in Adelaide, surpassing his more experienced colleague and fellow world champion Michael Hepburn by a comfortable four seconds.
“To beat someone of his calibre was pretty special, he’s incredible, although he just came back from the Tour Down Under he might have had a bit of fatigue under his legs, but I’ll take what I can get!” he said.
Welsford’s humble description provides insight into the young athlete’s nature and simple beginnings, emanating from having watched his Dad go for rides when he was just four and begging for his own bike to ride around the local Matilda Bay in Crawley. A passion that has materialised into an Olympic dream.
“I’m pretty competitive so once I started racing it was a bit of fun and I tried rugby league and union but started getting a bit too injured so I gave that up to focus on the track,” he said.
It’s full steam ahead now, with the dream of riding at the Olympics more in reach than ever for an athlete that, “can’t imagine what I’d be doing if I wasn’t on the bike.”
From here, Welsford will alternate between Canberra and Adelaide before the squad heads to Europe where he will travel with his teammates who he describes as some of his closest friends.
“I’ve been training with three of the guys in particular since I was 12, so you can imagine we’re pretty good mates,” he told.
This comradery between the boys has produced some impressive results. Particularly at a training camp in Mexico late last year, where the squad unofficially broke a world record for the team pursuit by almost half a second.
Welsford admits, that moment had been formative.
“It did give me a lot of confidence and identified me as a rider that can go that pace which sets up a good argument to the selectors that I can get the times you need at crunch time,” he said.
For Sam, 18 months ago a realistic goal was being a contender for the 2020 Olympic Games and his coaches would tell you they thought it would take a lot of stepping stones for him to make the cut this year.
However, success after success has sprouted from hard training and a lot of guts from Sam which has placed him in a prime position for selection into the 2016 Games.
“It’s the dream definitely,” he said. “I think about it every day and every time I go to bed.”
“I’ve just been taking the journey step by step and now I look at it, it’s all come together.”
“I think it comes down to how bad you want it and I want it pretty bad.”
All he can do now is train his best and continue to impress selectors in preparation for the team announcement that will likely occur in June.
– Nicole Lendich