Matthew Glaetzer rues tactical mistake after shock elimination from men’s sprint

AUSTRALIA’S fastest man Matthew Glaetzer fell victim to the upset of the Games so far after being knocked out of the men’s sprint by the unlikeliest of athletes.

AUSTRALIA’S fastest man Matthew Glaetzer has been eliminated from the sprint at the Gold Coast Games in a shock result against the slowest qualifier which he has described as a “nightmare”.

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Malaysian Muhammad Sharom caused the upset of the Games on the velodrome by beating the reigning world champion in their heat this afternoon.

Just minutes earlier Glaetzer was the fastest qualifier with a Games record 9.583secs in the flying 200m, which was a full second faster than his Malaysian rival and put them on a collision course in the first round.

Glaetzer took the front position and looked in control but was caught unaware when Sharom jumped him on the back straight and held on to win.

Matt Glaetzer of Australia speaks to the media

It brought back memories of Glasgow four years ago when Glaetzer also qualified fastest in Games record time but failed to make the semi-finals.

“It was a nightmare unfolding with three quarters of a lap to go, I knew I’d stuffed it and had to give it all to fight but the race was gone by then,” Glaetzer said.

“The sprint is the big one and it was always going to be tough backing up last night but it was just a tactical mistake.

“I’m gutted, I tried to control it too much and it was my mistake and I’m just devastated.

“It will take a while to get over this one, I was really going for this and it’s just a nightmare.

“It was exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I tried to get through with minimum effort and that cost me, I needed to use my speed and it just wasn’t there and he got the jump on me.

“It’s never easy but worst case scenario for me just then.”

Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom of Malaysia knocks out Matt Glaetzer

Glaetzer, 25, was the hot favourite for gold on the Anna Meares Velodrome after becoming the first Australian since 2002 to become world champion in the event in March.

But he was unable to back up from his dominance in the keirin on Friday night where he made it back-to-back Games gold medals.

His teammate Pat Constable was also eliminated from the competition by New Zealand’s Ethan Mitchell leaving Jacob Schmid as the only Aussie into the quarter-finals after he defeated Canadian Stefan Ritter.

Glaetzer still has one event left with the 1km time trial on Sunday.

“I knew I’d stuffed up and I’ll just take a moment to be disappointed and then regroup again ready for tomorrow, I won’t leave anything in the tank,” he said.

“I’ll be cheering on my teammates and hopefully they can race well and learn from my mistakes.”

Originally published as Matthew Glaetzer rues tactical mistake after shock elimination from men’s sprint