Families fly out to celebrate with South Australian Commonwealth Games gold medallists

THE families of South Australia’s newest Commonwealth Games cycling champions were anxiously waiting to celebrate with their gold medal heroes in Brisbane on Friday.

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THE families of South Australia’s newest Commonwealth Games cycling champions were anxiously waiting to celebrate with their gold medal heroes in Brisbane on Friday.

Alex Porter’s elated family was still waiting to see him on Friday night after he won Commonwealth Games gold in world record time with Australia’s team pursuit on Thursday.

Porter’s parents, Richard and Kristen, as well as his brother, aunt and girlfriend all made the trip from Adelaide to the Gold Coast for the Games and were there to see the historic ride on the Anna Meares Velodrome.

His sister remained in Adelaide for work and university but watched the thrilling race on TV with a group of excited friends.

Australian cyclists Nathan Hart with bronze medal won in the men’s team sprint and Alex Porter, gold medallist in the men’s 4000m team pursuit. Picture: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

Porter, 22, is a born-and-bred South Australian who went to school at Scotch College and emerged through the SA Sports Institute.

He was one of six South Australians to win a medal on the first night of competition along with Stephanie Morton, Alex Manly, Annette Edmondson and para-athletes Thomas Clarke and Bradley Henderson, while more were set to follow on Friday night.

“We’re not 100 per cent sure when we’ll get to see him because it’s hard to get access to him,” Richard said.

Amy Cure and Annette Edmondson celebrate winning gold against New Zealand in the women's 4000m team pursuit. Picture: Dan Mullan/Getty Images

“We got to see him at the hotel for about 10 minutes on the day of the race and he was pretty relaxed and focused.

“Then we had a good chat (on the phone) on Friday night and talked to him this morning and he’s absolutely over the moon with what they achieved.

“It was absolutely awesome, a wonderful experience and the boys rode really well.

“The whole night was fantastic, the girls did really well so it was just sensational.

“There is a lot of time and energy put in by the athletes and the likes of Alex we’ve seen his journey, so for him to achieve what they did on Friday night and be world record holder you go ‘that’s pretty bloody cool’.”

Kaarle McCulloch and Stephanie Morton celebrating their women's cycling team sprint final win. AFP PHOTO / Patrick HAMILTON

Porter’s family went in a ballot for tickets and were lucky enough to be trackside for the world record ride, as well as to cheer on the rest of the Australian team all weekend.

The team pursuit starter was unlucky to miss out on Olympic selection in 2016 and made his Games debut on the Gold Coast this week which is part of his long-term plan to target Tokyo in 2020.

“Cycling is a tough and brutal sport at times but part of it is you have your highs and lows and you’ve got to work your way through them,” Richard said.

“If you continue to work hard and keep your focus and discipline, success will come, and if Alex had of ended up in Rio that would have been an absolute bonus but his journey is broader than that and that’s how he looks at it, it’s been more about doing things like Comm Games and Tokyo would be a more realistic focus.”

Alex Manly’s immediate and extended family made the trip to Brisbane from Nairne, Adelaide, Ballarat and Swan Hill to cheer her on in the women’s team pursuit which they won in Games record time.

Manly, 22, was making her Commonwealth Games debut four years after she won The Advertiser and Channel 7’s Junior Sport Star of the Year in 2014.

“You hear all this stuff about the quality of the sport at the Commonwealth Games, well if you’re a netballer or a cyclist chasing a world record, it’s as good as it gets and it was tremendous in the velodrome,” Manly’s dad Mark said.

“For Alex there was the disappointment of not getting to go to Rio but she knew at that point she was the young one in the team and that would have been fortunate, so she’s gone away and worked hard and kept very positive and that’s the result.

“She’s a real team player, she loves being part of the team pursuit and the madison.”

Mark and his wife Jackie got to see their daughter but only very briefly after the race and were planning on catching up properly to congratulate her late on Friday.

“She ran across the track and gave us a hug after the race and we saw her outside literally for about 20 seconds,” Mark said.

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Originally published as Families fly out to celebrate with South Australian Commonwealth Games gold medallists