Oliver Wood is determined to pick up the mantle and continue Team GB’s team pursuit legacy in Paris. Wood will return for his second Games next month, looking to right the wrongs of Tokyo where Great Britain’s run of three consecutive gold medals in the event ended with a disappointing seventh-place finish. There is just one change from the Tokyo team, with Wood returning alongside Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield, and Ethan Vernon while Dan Bigham has replaced three-time gold medallist Ed Clancy.
But the Wakefield-born rider believes the current composition have got what it takes to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Clancy, Bradley Wiggins, and Geraint Thomas by sealing another gold in Paris. “Growing up as a kid, that’s what Team GB did, they went to the Olympics and won the team pursuit,” he said. “I was part of the team in Tokyo, we finished seventh which was a pretty terrible time, but you learn and sometimes people don’t deal with these things well but it just made me hungrier for the next Olympics.
“I thought I was going to be a part of that, we went, we got there and we didn’t. That was quite deflating, but I don’t think I took it badly. I thought at least I don’t have to wait four years; I only have to wait three.
“I think if we just go out there and do our best, what will be will be and hopefully it will be an Olympic gold medal. “I wanted to do this because I watched someone do it on television. If we don’t do it for people to watch .
