BENDIGO cyclist Glenn O'Shea has won gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
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O'Shea was part of the Australian team pursuit squad which defeated England in Friday morning's (AEST) final.
The Australian squad was coached by Bendigo's Tim Decker.
he Aussies started strongly to lead by 2 seconds at fhe halfway mark.
They continued their dominance to win in a Games record time of 3.54.851.
"It's pretty special," O'Shea told Network Ten.
"We all grew up watching the Commonwealth Games. I remember when I was younger going to Melbourne (2006) to watch.
"So to come here and win is special."
O'Shea said the quartet had surprised even themselves with the margin of the blitz in the final.
"We probably rode a little bit quicker than we thought we would," O'Shea said.
"Our aim was to try and break the Commonwealth record, I guess, and we did that so that's fantastic''
Gold medal-winning team-mate Luke Davison had special praise for Decker.
"We knew coming into the final that we kind of dipped a little bit at the 2km mark in the qualifying so that was an area that we wanted to improve on. To ride the time that we did I think is testament to our training and to Tim Decker and how much he's backed us,'' he said.
The English team was led by 2012 Tour de France champion Sir Bradley Wiggins.
The Aussies went into the final as favourite after being the fastest qualifier by 1.3 seconds.
It was O'Shea's first medal at Commonwealth Games level.
The 25-year-old is a triple world champion on the track and he claimed a silver medal in the team pursuit at the London Olympics.
O'Shea is the only sportsman to win three Bendigo Advertiser-Prime TV Sports Star of the Year awards.
Meanwhile, Bendigo netballer Caitlin Thwaites came off the bench to play a dominant role in Australia's 63-36 win over Wales.
Thwaites scored 19 goals from 23 attempts in an impressive Commonwealth Games debut.
Australia's badminton team won its opening teams event pool match against Wales.
Bendigo's Jeff Tho lost his singles match in three tight sets, but that result didn't have a bearing on the overall scoreline with the Aussies dominating the doubles matches.
Source: Bendigo Advertiser with The Age