Paris Olympics champion Grace Brown steers Australia’s mixed relay team to world championship gold

A gold medallist in Paris and now a dual world champion still has heads shaking about why she’s headed to retirement.

Olympic gold medallist Grace Brown says she feels “greedy” and will head into retirement with another major crown after storming home to guide Australia to gold in the mixed team time trial at the world championships in Switzerland.

Riding the final leg of the relay event with Brodie Chapman, Brown, who won the time trial at the Paris Olympics and did the double by winning the same event at the world championships, held on during the final sprint to pip Germany by less than a second after 53.7km of racing that included nearly 1000m of climbing.

It was a stunning effort from Brown, who recovered from winning the women’s individual time trial on Saturday and provided some golden compensation for Jay Vine, who crashed badly and had to settle for fifth in the elite men’s time trial on Sunday, finishing battered and bloodied.

Michael Matthews, Ben O’Connor and Ruby Roseman-Gannon made up Australia’s six-strong team.

“I think I’m feeling a little bit greedy, I need a few more rainbow jerseys in my closet but this one is really nice, a great vibe to do it with the whole Aussie crew. Really exciting,” Brown said.

🌈 Team Time Trial Mixed Relay: @AusCycling 🇦🇺

When teamwork makes the dream work#Zurich2024pic.twitter.com/vDDE7XEGXG

— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 25, 2024

Despite being only 32, and amid a stunning run of wins, Brown insists she won’t change her mind about retiring from cycling and will end her career in Sunday’s women’s road race.

The relay win came after Brown and Baldwin seized back an advantage lost by the second pair of Roseman and Gannon.

“We were down to two riders. I knew if I went at my maximum, Grace could stay with me,” Chapman said.

“We know each other’s efforts, and she is the best in the world. In the last kilometres I was digging deep to stay with her.”

Matthews said he knew how strong the female members of the team were.

“It was a hard day, not much recovery out there and we really had to stick together as a team,” he said.

“We came through with the fastest time and we were quite confident from there. We knew we had a strong women’s team.

“But you never know until you cross the finish line. We are in a bit of shock right now, but once it sinks in we are world champions, we can really enjoy it.”

Originally published as Paris Olympics champion Grace Brown steers Australia’s mixed relay team to world championship gold