Aussies set world best

The Aussie quartet were always in control

By Clive Lindsay BBC Sport Online in Manchester

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Australia smashed the world record to claim the 4000m team pursuit gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Their time of 3min 59.583sec beat the previous best by 0.127sec and pushed England into second place in Manchester.

The Aussie quartet of Graeme Brown, Peter Dawson, Mark Renshaw and Luke Roberts were always in command.

But at least England's foursome of Paul Manning, Chris Newton, Bradley Wiggins and Bryan Steel had the satisfaction of recording the second best time ever by a British team.

I heard the commentator saying we were close to the world record

Luke Roberts

Gold medallist Roberts said: "I put a lot of preparation into the individual event and to finish fourth was very disappointing, so I was out to do something special tonight.

"Breaking the world record makes up for it.

"We knew the track was fast and that, to beat England, we would be in the ball-park of the world record.

"But I didn't realise it was that quick. When I heard the commentator saying that we were close to the record, it was all out from that point."

Beaten finalist Newton said: "It was very disappointing to lose, but we worked as hard as we could. The guys put in a great ride to break the record."

New Zealand had already secured bronze, having been faster than scratch sides from Scotland and Wales.