Queally pays UK dividends

Within these walls: Manchester's velodrome

As BBC Sport Online's Chris Russell reports, Britain's newest sporting hero is a result of the recent increased investment in the sport and its UK facilities.

Had Manchester won the right to host these Olympics Jason Queally would have had to travel less than 30 miles to win gold instead of going to the other side of the world.

But the cyclist from Preston might never have competed at all without the international velodrome that was built in the English city defeated by Sydney.

The UK National Cycling Centre was a key element of Manchester's efforts to secure the 2000 games, and opened in 1994 despite the bid's failure.

Queally on his way to gold

Nearly £10m of public money from various agencies was spent.

Now there has been a relatively rapid return on that investment - thanks to a 30-year-old who first learnt the sport at the velodrome just five years ago.

His gold medal should provide the UK with a feelgood factor after a testing week of petrol shortages.

But it is not too hard to imagine a longer-lasting dividend if others are inspired to follow Queally's example and take to two wheels - improving their own health and, topically, the nation's environmental prospects in the process.

The promotion of all forms of cycling was in the minds of those who built the velodrome, although the initial aim was to provide an excellent facility both for top class competition and the sport's development in Britain.

With the venue now preparing for its second world championships and the 2002 Commonwealth Games on the way, there is no doubt that it has been a success in the first respect.

But its triumph in attracting new people into the sport - using league competitions and special events for riders of all abilities - is less well known.

  Queally's career

Born May 11, 1970, Great Heywood, Staffordshire

Graduate in Biological Science from Lancaster University, where he represented British Universities at water polo.

1995: Aged 25, he turned from triathlon to cycling after completing a course at the Manchester Velodrome. Joined Manchester Track League.

1996: Decides to ride full-time. Won silver medal in 1km time trial at the National Track Championships.

1998: Silver medal in the 1km time trial at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

1999: Fifth at the world championships in 1km time trial and, with Chris Hoy and Craig MacLean, won silver medal in the Olympic sprint.

2000: Wins Britain's first gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in the 1km time trial.

Now the secret is out, thanks to a gold medallist who took a coaching course inside the futuristic venue less than a year after it opened.

Next month Queally will return to Manchester and the world championships to receive the sort of hero's reception normally reserved for Chris Boardman, who set a world record there in 1996.

Born in Staffordshire, but now based in Lancashire, Queally represented the British Universities at water polo, and then switched from the pool onto two wheels via the triathlon.

Since then he has won silver in both the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and at last year's world championships despite a road accident during the event.

But few imagined he would go one better on the biggest stage of all, particularly after the British disappointments of the 1996 Olympics.

Boardman set the world record in 1996

The velodrome was already in place when UK sport disappointed itself with just one gold in Atlanta, and cycling did comparatively well with bronze medals for time triallist Boardman and road racer Max Sciandri.

But the best facilities in the world are no good without the time and energy to use them, and Queally is one of many British competitors who has been able to train full-time due to recent national lottery windfalls.

The cyclist made such a decision to do so in 1996, and his shock success suggests that, for once, all the talk about this being the best prepared British Olympic team may not prove hollow.

Time will tell whether those hopes are justified but after Saturday's events, cycling will not be blamed if others cannot follow Queally's lead.

Nor will those behind the Manchester venue, who had the foresight to stick with their world class plan despite a bitter defeat by Sydney.