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‘I left everything out there I possibly could’ – Hatherly─── MORGAN PIEK 08:36 Tue, 30 Jul 2024

“No regrets – in the end, I left everything out there that I possibly could. I think it’s every athlete’s dream to get an Olympic medal and for me to achieve that today is unbelievable and I’m still at a loss for words.”
The mountain biker Alan Hatherly is living the dream after winning South Africa’s second medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Monday (29/7). Hatherly won the bronze in the men’s cross-country for his very first Olympic medal and also South Africa’s first in mountain biking.
At one stage the South African was riding in second, but ultimately had to settle for third, after an incredible surge by the now two-time Olympic gold medal winner, Thomas Pidcock of Great Britain. It was definitely a thrilling race with just 11 seconds separating the top three riders.
‘It still hasn’t really sunk in yet and I need some time to reflect’
Hatherly, who has previously won the cross-country nationals in Bloemfontein, told OFM Sport that this has been a life-long dream. “It still hasn’t really sunk in yet and I need some time to reflect,” said Hatherly (28).
“It’s been really flat-out since the race, but it’s been a goal, a career goal of mine since I was a child growing up. To have achieved it today is just unbelievable. It’s been such a journey to get to this point and the last few weeks are always the most difficult. When you’ve had perfect preparation to just put the cherry on top to deliver a performance, you obviously have only one chance to deliver that performance.
“To have ticked all the boxes and achieved that without getting anything wrong on the way in and not making mistakes in the race, that's just an achievement in itself. And yeah, to have gotten the bronze, for me, for the team, for South Africa, it’s just really a dream come true.”
Victor Koretzky, Thomas Pidcock, and Alan Hatherly. Picture: X
Hatherly added that he got off to a near-perfect start in what was an incredible race. Then it was a matter of fighting hard to maintain his position in the top three, but ultimately, he has no regrets whatsoever. “It was an unbelievable race – it was super, super fast and tactical,” Hatherly added.
“I had an amazing start and managed to clear the chaos and the risk factor of getting caught out in lap one. Then I started to position and save some energy. I got a bit caught out at that point, and maybe I settled a little bit too early.
“The race started to happen and I had to chase quite hard to get back into the medal positions. Once Tom had his mechanical, obviously I was in second place and just controlling the gap to Victor.
“I was planning on really emptying the tank in the last two laps and then getting back to the front. At that moment, Tom was actually coming back from his mechanical. We went together back across and then it was a massive battle on the last lap for the medals.
“No regrets – in the end, I left everything out there that I possibly could. I think it’s every athlete’s dream to get an Olympic medal and for me to achieve that today is unbelievable and I’m still at a loss for words. It’s for sure going to take some time to settle in.”
Pidcock won the race in 1:26:22 to claim the gold medal, while Victor Koretzky of France won the silver, with Hatherly hot on his heels in third.