Sam Webster triumphs in the battle of speed and wits

By Malcolm Knox
Updated July 26 2014 - 11:08pm, first published 6:13pm

Sam Webster was riding in quiet circles inside the velodrome track. Having just won a Commonwealth gold medal in the most dramatic fashion, the 23-year-old New Zealander was feeling, he would say later, ‘absolute joy’. But his body told a different story. Every few turns of the pedals, his stomach heaved and his throat convulsed. Silently, he was dry-retching, over and over. Such is the unique emotional and physical cost of the king of track cycling events, the men’s sprint.

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