Prince William and Kate may have been watching from the stands, but on the track today, sprint royalty was being crowned.
In the Glasgow velodrome, Australia’s Leigh Hoffman delivered a dominant performance to win gold in the men’s sprint at the Commonwealth Games this morning (AEST).
The 26-year-old from Whyalla was clinical in his execution; effortless in his accelerations.
Earlier on Saturday, Hoffman set the tone by breaking the Commonwealth Games record in qualifying: a flying 200m time of 9.361 seconds, head and shoulders clear of the competition.
When it came to the match sprints, the Aussie was flawless.
Much had been made of the hotly anticipated showdown with England’s Matthew Richardson – a clash that never eventuated after the Aussie-turned-Brit was ruled out by injury last week.
While Hoffman was “upset” to be deprived the chance to race his former teammate, they say you can only beat the riders who show up on the day.
And boy, did he beat them.
Hoffman was fully in control at Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
Hoffman's 1/8 Final against Cole Dempster (Canada) was a formality – easing past the trapdoor of a one-off race where any mistake can be fatal.
Then came a potentially scary match-up against the canny Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, who beat Hoffman in yesterday’s keirin.
Any fear was unfounded: Hoffman’s sheer power was too much, dispatching the Malaysian comfortably in two straight rounds.
Onto the semi-final; an internal affair: an all-Aussie race against his young teammate, and fellow South Australian, the 20-year-old Tayte Ryan.
Ryan is in Glasgow predominantly to focus on tomorrow’s 1km Time Trial, and Hoffman bested him comfortably to advance to the gold final against Nicholas Paul (Trinidad and Tobago).
Hoffman faced up against teammate Tayte Ryan in the semi-final.
The two best riders in the field had made it to the main event, and the Trinidadian brought out every tactic in the textbook.
But no matter the questions asked, Hoffy had the answers. Whether leading from the front or closing in from behind, Leigh Hoffman always looked in control. In two clean rounds, the Australian blasted clear to clinch his first individual gold medal at a Commonwealth Games.
"I wanted to get as many golds as possible. To get two, and one silver so far, it's amazing," Hoffman said, referring to Australia's team sprint win and yesterday's keirin performance.
"It seemed like it was a little bit cold in here, judging off everyone else's times. So that got me a bit nervous. I was second-guessing gear and what-not.
"To then break the Commonwealth Games record definitely gave me a lot of confidence going into the rides."
While Hoffman looked to do it easy on track, he hadn't thought of victory as a fait accompli.
"To come up against Azizul [Awang] in the quarter finals: I would've expected to see him in the finals, so that definitely made me a bit nervous because he's just a high-calibre athlete," Hoffman said.
"Then, to come up against my teammate definitely sucks, but that's individual racing, that's what happens.
"Nicholas Paul in the final ... even though on paper I was faster, I know these guys have more experience than me, so I definitely had my hands full.
"To come away with the win is just amazing."
While Hoffman is listed to compete in the 1000-metre time trial tonight, it’s already been a wildly successful games for the one they call the “Whyalla Wonder”.
"The Commonwealth Games is probably up there with the Olympics for us Aussies. To come all the way from Whyalla, who would have thought, really?"