It doesn’t seem to matter what is thrown in Neil Fachie’s path, the Aberdonian always seems to emerge with gold glistening around his neck.
This time it was a bout of illness, disruption to his training schedule, and a formidable ride from the Welsh team – breaking his Commonwealth record right before he was due on track.
None of it seems to matter to Fachie, even at 38. When it comes to the big stage, he wins. “Mr Unbeatable”, as BBC commentator Simon Brotherton put it.
A win in the Tandem-B 1000m time trial means it is now five Commonwealth golds, with the chance of a sixth on Sunday. Only lawn bowler Alex Marshall can match his haul for Scotland.
“I’ve been quite ill,” the Paralympic champion told BBC Sport. “Fortunately it’s not Covid so I’m allowed to race, but it just made that all the more tough.
“But I was so determined to win for Scotland, my family here and my wife, who’s got my baby to come. All that emotion drove me through those last two laps. I’m so, so proud.”
From brink of quitting to more glory
Before the delay to the Tokyo Paralympics due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Fachie was going to retire.
Just a few months ago, he was unsure who his pilot would be, and was racking up the miles on trains and in cars training at different venues while renovations were going on at his usual Manchester base.
He always believed, but the conviction was waning. The rivalry with Welshman James Ball, and his pilot Matt Rotherham, with whom Fachie had many of his Commonwealth and Paralympic successes, was fierce.
“I came into this thinking they were favourites to win,” Fachie admitted.
It certainly looked that way when Wales set a new Games record, and then Fachie and pilot Lewis Stewart trailed on the clock right up until 250m to go.
But under huge pressure, Fachie delivered again, in the same stadium where he secured the first of his two Paralympic gold medals. The fist pumps from atop the podium told you everything about what it took.
Speaking in the BBC Sport studio, one of his fellow Scotland greats summed it up.
“They had it all to do,” Sir Chris Hoy said. “That’s what being a champion is all about – rising to the occasion and dealing with that pressure.
“There’s something about Neil as an athlete and the way he trains and he can just get on with anybody.
“He is very understated. He doesn’t blow his own trumpet, he’s not the kind of guy to chase out the limelight. But what an incredible athlete he is and we’re all very proud of him in Scotland.”
Fachie has one more event to come, the Tandem-B sprint on Sunday, and a chance to continue his 100% Commonwealth Games record. He could also finish as Scotland’s most successful Commonwealth athlete.
He will joust with Marshall for that honour, and though he wishes his compatriot all the best in his two medal events, the chance to take the moniker is one Fachie relishes.
“I want to be up there,” he said. “I want to do it for Para-sport.”
You wouldn’t bet against it.
McGlynn secures third silver
Fachie’s triumph was the peak of Scotland’s medal success in the velodrome, but he was not alone in climbing on the podium.
Aileen McGlynn secured a gutsy silver in the women’s Tandem-B sprint, adding to the two second-places she earned in Glasgow eight years ago.
After progressing to the final by virtue of the England team being disqualified for an illegal move, they were beaten by Australian, despite going close to forcing a deciding sprint.
“The Australians are really tough opposition,” she told BBC Sport. “A bit elbowy and stuff at times – I was like: ‘woah, I wasn’t expecting that’. But we gave them a run for their money in that last heat so happy we did everything we could have.”
Libby Clegg, who was making her competitive debut in track cycling having won Paralympic and Commonwealth gold as a sprinter in athletics, missed out on bronze and finished fourth in the same event after losing to England’s Sophie Unwin.
