Mountain-biker Alan Hatherly, the first South African to win an Olympic cycling medal since 1956, knew he had one chance to make his long-awaited dream come true. And on Monday, he achieved just that in the men’s cross-country event near Paris.
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Hatherly excelled in the grueling eight-lap endurance race, earning bronze and securing South Africa’s third medal at the Games, following the Blitzboks’ bronze in rugby sevens and Tatjana Smith’s gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke final.
The 28-year-old from Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal, led from the start but slipped to fifth as Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock and France’s Victor Koretzky surged ahead to compete for gold. Hatherly stayed close behind Pidcock and Koretzky, moving back into podium contention and holding second place for two laps at the Colline d’Élancourt (Elancourt Hill) course.
Ultimately, Hatherly finished third with a time of 1:26:33, just 11 seconds behind gold medallist Pidcock, making history for South Africa in Paris.
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Arriving in Paris after winning consecutive World Cup events, including a victory earlier this month in Les Gets, Hatherly, ranked fourth in the world, set a strong pace from the opening lap and knew he had to outsmart his rivals.
Hatherly was overwhelmed with emotion, stating that he ‘left everything out there.’
He said, ‘It was an unbelievable race, super fast and tactical. I had an amazing start and managed to clear the chaos and the risk factor of getting caught out in lap one. I started to position and save some energy, and I got a bit caught out and maybe settled a little bit too early. But the race started to happen, and I had to chase quite hard to get back in medal positions. Once Tom had his mechanical (issue) I was in second place and just controlling the gap to Victor. I was kind of planning on really emptying the tank in the last two laps and getting back to the front, and in that moment, Tom came back. We went together, back across, and then it was a massive battle on the last lap for the medals. I mean, I have no regrets in the end. I left everything out there that I possibly could and it’s every athlete’s dream to get an Olympic medal. To have achieved this today is unbelievable and I’m still lost for words. It’s going to take some time to settle in.’
Hatherly became the first South African cyclist to win an Olympic medal since the country’s readmission and the first since 1956. His bronze medal was South Africa’s third in Paris and the first on a golden Monday, which concluded with Tatjana Smith winning the 100m breaststroke final.
Reflecting on his achievement, Hatherly said, ‘It still hasn’t really sunk in yet. I still need some time to reflect back… It’s been a career goal of mine since I was a child growing up, and to have achieved it today, it’s just unbelievable. It’s been such a journey to get to this point. The last few weeks is always the most difficult when you’ve had perfect preparation, to just put the cherry on top, to deliver a performance when you only have one chance to deliver that performance. To have ticked all the boxes and achieve that without getting anything wrong on the way in, and not making mistakes in the race… That’s just an achievement in itself – to have the bronze for the team and for South Africa. It’s just really a dream come true. I’m super happy.’
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Picture: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images