Former Birmingham geology student Paul Manning has powered his way to a double gold at the Commonwealth Games in the track cycling events in Melbourne this week.
Paul Manning added a gold in the team pursuit on Saturday to his existing gold in the individual pursuit event. England beat Australia by nearly three seconds to become Commonwealth champions, a victory that was sweet revenge for the team after the Australians had beaten England on their home turf at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002.
The Pursuit Team’s sights will now be set on beating the Australians at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
This team win came hot on the heels of Paul’s success in the men’s individual 4-kilometre pursuit last week, when he was joined on the podium by fellow England team members Rob Hayles and Steve Cummings, in an England clean sweep of the medals, the first time in Commonwealth history. Manning won the event in a time of 4:23.799.
Manning, aged 31, who graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1996 with a BSc in Earth Sciences, adds these golds to his already impressive haul of medals from previous championships, including a silver in the Team Pursuit event at the Athens Olympics, a bronze at the 2000 Olympics and silver at the 2002 Commonwealth Games