Bronze for Marsh cyclist

By Lachlan Ellis

A cyclist from Moorabool has won bronze for Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Twenty-one-year-old Graeme Frislie was named in the 34-person cycling squad for the Commonwealth Games in June, after winning gold with his team at the Nations Cup in Canada in May.

In the early hours of the morning on Friday 29 July, the five-man Australian Men’s 4000m Team Pursuit team – including Mr Frislie – defeated Wales in the bronze medal race at the Lee Valley Velodrome in London.

New Zealand defeated England to win gold in the gold medal race.

Graeme’s dad Mike said the bronze medal was a fantastic reward for all the hard work put in by Graeme and the team.

“We were excited for the team to qualify for the bronze medal ride. This is a very young developing squad on the international scene. It was a strong team effort….the boys have trained very hard together in the last two years,” Mr Frislie told the Moorabool News.

“The boys have all put in a lot of hard work, they deserve a great result as they back each other and work as a team.”

Mr Frislie and wife Shelley were at the Lee Valley Velodrome cheering Graeme on, with the loud stadium “more or less a home crowd for Wales”.

“Graeme was happy with the chance to win bronze and represent Australia in the Team Pursuit. This was his first event in the Commonwealth Games, with the Scratch Race and Points Race later in the week,” he said.

“Graeme is very thankful for the support from the Bacchus Marsh/Moorabool community, and Bacchus Marsh Grammar [where he went to school].”

Graeme Frislie finished 6th place in the Scratch Race, and had an early crash in the 40km Points Race, getting back on his bike to ride another two-thirds of the race before withdrawing.