Shane Kelly's Elusive Prize

Shane Kelly is one of Australia's cycling greats. Throughout his incredible career, he won it all. Everything, that is, except for a gold medal at the Games. Considered the greatest cyclist in the world in 1996, one split second mistake in Atlanta set Shane up for a life lesson in failure, and how to overcome it. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Australia has no shortage of sporting champions. It's no secret
that we love a winner. Those who achieve success are
showered with praise and sometimes those who don't are unfairly criticized.
But winning medals isn't everything when you think about it.
Making it on the world stage is achievement enough. And

(00:24):
often we learn more from our failures than we do
from our victories, So maybe it's time to honor those
mistakes and missed opportunities. Take Shane Kelly for example. He's
one of Australia's cycling greats. On the one hand, he
made things look easy when it came to the Commonwealth
Games and World Championships. He cleaned up. But whenever the

(00:44):
Olympics rolled around, the one thing he wanted, that gold medal,
proved elusive time and time again. Gooday, I'm Tony Armstrong
and welcome to the pool. This is where we celebrate
the winners, losers and the weird stuff between. Shane Kelly

(01:23):
hails from the town of Arrarat in Victoria. Maybe it's
Goldfield history inspired young Shane to go after shiny medals.
Growing up in a sports mad family probably helped to
He received his first bike when he was around four
years old. As Shane got older, he took a keen
interest in track cycling. He won his first major titles

(01:45):
as a junior at eighteen years old, competing in the
Australian National Track Championships of nineteen ninety. Further success followed
in the World Championships for Juniors, claiming first in the
kilo event and third in the elimination. Shane was well
and truly ready for the big time, representing Australia in

(02:08):
the Olympic Games. He announced his arrival to the world
at Barcelona nineteen ninety two, coming within a second of
the gold medal winner from Spain for the one thousand
meter time trial. But Shane wasn't complaining about silver. His
professional cycling career was about to take off. The following year,

(02:31):
Shane claimed his first senior world title before his debut
at the Commonwealth Games in nineteen ninety four. With a
time of one minute and five point three eight six seconds,
he won his first gold medal for Australia. Then in
ninety five, he set a new world record at the
International Championships for the one kilometer time trial one minute

(02:53):
and six hundred and thirteen milliseconds. He was given the
nickname minute Man, and his record stood for nearly two
twenty years. The person who broke it, by the way,
was another Rossie, Matthew Glaitzer. He became the first cyclist
to smash the one minute mark in the same event
at sea level. That's incredible. Anyway, back to Shane Kelly.

(03:19):
In nineteen ninety six, the Olympic Games headed to Atlanta,
and so did Shane. He'd become the best cyclist in
the world and was the favorite to take home the gold.
But Shane was about to experience his first taste of failure.
Track cycling events begin with a stationary start. The bike's
rear wheel is clamped in place to prevent riders from

(03:41):
jumping the gun. Therefore, the way you take off determines
the success of your whole race. Naturally, cyclists practiced this
over and over again, but when the pressure is on,
mistakes happen, and unfortunately for Shane, it unfolded in front
of the entire world at the worst moment the gold
medal race he was supposed to win. The crowd in

(04:11):
the velodrome that day was buzzing with excitement. Shane was
the world record holder and the world champion. They were
there to see history unfold. But as the starting buzzer chimed,
Shane's race was already over. His left foot came loose
from the pedal strap and the rear wheel of his

(04:31):
bike hopped as he took off, Shane knew straight away
what it meant. For a brief moment, his instincts kicked in.
He tried to pick up speed and keep going, but
he shot at the gold medal was ruined. He slowed
down as he swerved off the track, waving to the
crowd as if to say, sorry, I messed up, but

(04:52):
thanks for the support. There was no restart and Shane
didn't finish the time trial. Heroically, Shane Kelly was able
to put the bitter disappointment behind him. Just four weeks
after the disaster in Atlanta, he won two gold medals

(05:15):
at the World Championships. Then he won gold again the
next year, making it three in a row for the
time trial event. More success followed in the Commonwealth Games,
winning gold in nineteen ninety eight. In two thousand, another
opportunity presented itself with the Olympics on home soil. At

(05:37):
twenty eight years old. It looked to be Shane's best
chance at Olympic gold. He was still competing at the
top level, but it seemed like the rest of the
world was beginning to catch up. Shane won bronze in
the time trial. It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but
it was still an Olympic medal in front of an
adoring Australian audience. At this stage of his career, Shane

(05:59):
had learned and to enjoy every win, big or small,
and really has nothing small about the Olympic Games. And
Shane still wasn't done. He won bronze in Athens in
two thousand and four, then another in Melbourne. At the
two thousand and six Common Games. At Beijing, he came

(06:20):
close to more medals, placing fourth in two cycling events.
Shane Kelly's career might not have panned out the way
that many expected, but it unfolded exactly the way it
was supposed to. Shane went through the kind of heartbreaking
moment that all athletes dread, but it's what shaped him

(06:41):
as a cyclist and as a person. History can keep
that elusive Olympic gold because even without it, Shane Kelly
is still one of the best to ever do it,
and no one can take that away from him. You've

(07:16):
been listening to an iHeart production the poolroom with me,
Tony Armstrong. Catch you next time.