Gold medal winner says funding needed to revive rundown Sydney Games velodrome

A hero from the 2000 Sydney Games says the best cyclists in NSW will head elsewhere to chase their Olympic dreams unless funding can be found to save the state’s only indoor velodrome.

Gold medal-winning Olympic cyclist Scott McGrory has slammed as “ludicrous” the potential demise of the venue where he and Brett Aitken rode to victory in the Madison at the 2000 Sydney Games.

It pains the 55-year-old to think the Dunc Gray velodrome could disappear, and warns the losers will not be those who treasure memories from 25 years ago but the next generation of NSW cyclists hoping to become Olympians.

“Those promising athletes who have set their sights on the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, they know they won’t get there through Sydney if they can’t train at an indoor velodrome,” he said.

“They will have to go interstate, to Queensland most likely, or Victoria or Adelaide.”

Scott McGrory and Brett Aitken celebrate winning gold in Sydney. Picture: Phil Hillyard.

McGrory said the successes in Sydney – where the track cycling team also won two silver and three bronze – provided the inspiration for a haul of seven gold medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

“You can look at that as part of the legacy from the Sydney 2000 velodrome,” he said. “It would be heartbreaking to see such an incredible facility go to waste. Surely there can be some money made available for upgrading works because the track itself is still world-class.”

Simon Fairweather also created history in Sydney, winning Australia’s first gold medal in archery.

Simon Fairweather after winning gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympics

He said shutting down the archery centre to build additional playing fields would make a “mockery” of claims that the Sydney Olympics would provide a lasting legacy of venues.

“A lot of us in the sport are dismayed by what’s been suggested,” he said. “It’s a centre of heritage but also a place where people are introduced to the sport.”

Originally published as Gold medal winner says funding needed to revive rundown Sydney Games velodrome