Paul Medhurst

Paul Medhurst was England’s gift to New Zealand cycling. He was born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, in 1953. A decade later, his father, a steel worker, took up an immigration scheme to Australia and later moved to New Zealand. Paul , the youngster of the family, went with his parents. He was 13.

Medhurst, living in Auckland, was always a good track rider and a dedicated trainer. In 1971, he was named Track Cyclist of the Year.

Just turned 20, he was chosen to ride for New Zealand at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, in the tandem with Phil Harland.

In the qualifying time trial among the four teams entered, the New Zealanders clocked 11.10s, some distance behind the classy English pairing, and also Australia.

In the semi-finals, Australia edged out New Zealand 2-1, the outcome climaxing in a frantic sprint to the line in the third race.

That left New Zealand to battle Wales for the bronze medal and Medhurst and Harland proved too good, winning two straight races.

Medhurst also contested the sprint and showed promising form initially, winning his first heat against Malaysian Daud Ibrahim in 12.16s.

In the second round, Medhurst was outgunned by Xavier Mirander of Jamaica, but bounced back in the second round repechage, ironically beating Ibrahim again, this time in 12.13s.

Into the third round, Medhurst couldn’t get past Englishman Ernest Crutchlow. He finally emerged successfully from the third round repechage races, losing his first heat, but then beating Noel Luces of Trinidad and Tobago and Geoffrey Cooke of England to advance to quarter-finals.

There he found himself outpaced by eventual gold medallist John Nicholson of Australia, losing two straight races.

In the race for 5th to 8th placings, Medhurst showed good tactical acumen to beat Australian Greg Barnes and another New Zealander, Bryce Preston, to secure 5th place in the event.

Medhurst had a busy Games – he also took part in the road 10-mile scratch race, but finished well back.

Medhurst and his wife Pam headed to England in 1975. Paul had a hankering to ride in Europe and the idea of being based there for a while appealed. While in England, he won the national sprint and madison championships, which grabbed the attention of the British Olympic selectors.

Because Medhurst had not ridden for New Zealand at an Olympics, he was eligible to ride for Britain and he accepted an invitation to represent Britain at Montreal in 1976. His initial understanding was he would be part of the team pursuit squad, but late in the piece he was named in the 1km time trial event and dropped to reserve for the team pursuit. He finished 19th of 30 riders in the time trial.

Following the Olympics, he turned professional and based himself in Ghent, Belgium, racing on the roads in the summer and teaming with Maurice Burton on the indoor tracks in the winter. He used his fitness and track speed to ride as a domestique in the Belgian Ebo

Superior team, and the family settled in Ghent, Belgium, for a time. One of their sons, Darren, still lives there.

But Medhurst always had a hankering to get back to New Zealand. He got part of the way in 1981. That year he won the Launceston and Melbourne six-day races, and the Australian sprint title (which meant he’d won the national sprint title in three countries). The Medhursts settled in Melbourne, but eventually hopped across the Tasman in 1985 to live in Auckland.

Medhurst stayed close to cycling. He was a cycling commentator during the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games and in 1992 he was Ron Cheatley’s assistant coach of the Olympic cycling team at the Barcelona Olympics. He enjoyed the cycling scene and often helped to coach some riders, taking a close interest in Jon Andrews, who won two medals at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

Medhurst worked for an international welding company for several years, and then set up his own welding company.

He had travelled back to Ghent to visit his son in 2019 when tragically he suffered a brain aneurysm and died in his sleep, aged 55.