It may end up being the strangest story of the Commonwealth Games, that of track cycling star Ellesse Andrews and the silver medal she won but never got, then paid a $334 fine for her problems
In a very successful but strange first day for the crack sprinter, Andrews stepped up to help the pursuit team win silver before leading the sprint team to gold.
The 22-year-old came to the chase team’s rescue after losing Ally Wollaston to injury on the eve of the Games before digging deep to hold off the fast-finishing Canadians to claim the first medal of New Zealand gold in the team sprint.
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Ellesse Andrews, left, won gold in the team sprint and silver in the team pursuit.
The chase team only confirmed they would run when Andrews agreed to start to give them the mandatory four riders.
She completed the first two laps on the qualification ride and the gold medal ride before dropping out and leaving Michaela Drummond, Emily Shearman and Bryony Botha to do the rest.
But this is where the story gets absurd. While Andrews will officially be considered the silver medal winner in the pursuit, she will not actually win a medal.
Because?
A spokesman for the New Zealand Olympic Committee confirmed that because he was preparing for the team sprint final when the medal ceremony took place, so he didn’t make the podium, he didn’t actually get a medal
And to rub salt in the wound, under UCI rules, not only did she lose her medal, Andrews was also fined CHF 200 ($334) and an unknown amount of UCI points for missing the ceremony.
It begs the question of what would happen if a runner crashed at the finish line and had to go to the hospital instead of attending the medal ceremony?
Medal around his neck or not, Andrews has already officially won a gold and a silver, and there could be more to come.