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Thomas Clarke delighted with maiden Australia title following team sprint
win |
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February 2nd 2018 |
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L-R Patrick Constable, James Brister, Thomas Clarke and
Matthew Glaetzer. Photo: John Veage |
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Thomas Clarke claimed his first Australian title in style on
the opening day of the 2018 Australian Track Championships
combining with Matthew Glaetzer and Patrick Constable to snare
the team sprint crown, the third in a row for South Australia.
22-year-old Clarke a bronze medallist from the 2014 Glasgow
Commonwealth Games in the Tandem sprint has long been a
contender on the national stage, including a bronze medal in
the keirin two years ago. The team sprint victory though is
his biggest breakthrough on the single seater bike.
A time of one minute 1.943 seconds in the kilo time trial was
bitter sweet for Clarke, as while a PB and his first time
under one minute two seconds he fell agonisingly short of the
podium by a tenth of a second.
With a PB and national title to his name Clarke heads in to
the sprint and keirin relaxed as he eyes the 2018 Gold Coast
Commonwealth Games in April in the Tandem events.
First national title what does it mean to you?
Winning my first National title is really special. It was
great to line up with Pat and Matt in final and know that we
had to put it all on the line. After they laid down an awesome
time in the heat with James Brister I knew I had a lot to live
up to, but I'm glad we were able to execute a good ride.
Pretty quick time just one tenth of a second off the
Australian Championship record how did the ride go for you?
The ride itself went off without an issue - even if I was
feeling a little rough after the kilo just beforehand. Riding
first wheel out of the gate is certainly not my best position,
but I knew that I just had to rip it as hard as I could to try
and deliver Pat and Matt as fast as I could into their own
laps.
To win with the likes of Matt Glaetzer and Patrick
Constable does that make it even more special?
Winning with Pat and Matt was an awesome experience. They
obviously have a massive reputation with being a great
combination, so I really wanted to be able to put myself out
there to create a cohesive team. We all really wanted that
third team sprint title in a row for South Australia and being
able to put it together on the night was a humbling
experience.
Also finished fourth in the 1km time trial in
1:01.943, just one tenth of a second off the podium happy with
the time?
I had a personal goal of trying to crack sub-1:02.00 for the
kilo so I was stoked with I crossed the line to see that I has
just done it. I haven't done a kilo since U19, so it was
really anyone's guess as how it was going to go. I have been
doing a fair bit of kilo work on the Tandem in the lead up to
Gold Coast Commonwealth Games as it one of the main events for
our bike, so I was really happy with the result. Being that
close to the podium was a little bitter/sweet as it would have
been pretty special, but the competition was really tough, and
I was still really happy with my overall time.
Was a busy day for you with team sprint and the 1km TT
how did you find racing up for the team sprint final after the
kilo?
It sure was a full-on day of racing with both of those events.
I was pretty shattered physically after the kilo ride, but I
knew we still had a job to do in the final of the team sprint.
We (Patrick Constable & Matthew Glaetzer) just had to mentally
reset, reorganise our priorities and just focus on the job
that had to be done in the team sprint later that night.
Sprint and keirin coming up what are your goals there?
Honestly, I've come into this week with some pretty relaxed
expectations apart from executing my racing to the best of my
abilities. Grabbing a few PB's would be nice but we have all
had a few tough weeks of training in our last training block.
With the Commonwealth Games coming up we didn't really have
time to freshen up too much for Nationals when the games are
such a big target, so we have come in with whatever form we
had and hoping that will be enough to get us over the line
against some really tough competition. |
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