It would be fair to say that the Australian men’s team pursuit squad did not arrive in Paris as favourites. It was not that the endurance squad was considered weak – they had shown remarkable resilience to bounce back from a high-speed equipment malfunction to win a bronze medal in Tokyo. But in recent years, dominant nations on the track had stepped up – and the Australian team had not been able to follow.
The squad had finished fourth at consecutive world championships. In 2022, the team’s qualifying time at the world titles – over 4,000 metres – was 3:50.344. Last year, the team was again above the three minute and 50 second mark.
