In the final, they raced against a sharp German team.
Nominees so far
•
Eric Murray and Hamish Bond (rowing)
•
Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze (mountain biking)
Mitchell and Webster - Aucklanders who have trained together, and been rivals, since early high school days - had the lead wheel in the first two laps. Germany shaded them on the handover to their anchorman, Dawkins.
The big Southlander hurtled around the track and got the win, with a time of 42.84s, the first time any New Zealand team had dipped under 43s.
"It was a very tight race the whole way through," said Webster.
"There were only a couple of hundredths [between the two teams] the whole way and Eddie Dawkins brought it home for us. He was the one who really pulled the cat out of the bag. Power to the big fella. He was the one that won the race for us."
In 2012 the same three riders won bronze; last year they qualified fastest but were beaten in the decider, so this seemed a natural progression in a sense.
On top of that, Mitchell, Webster and Dawkins were getting accustomed to the voice and thinking of a new coach, Anthony Peden, who replaced Justin Grace.
"This has made it all worth it," Webster said at the time.
The trio went to Glasgow and, without the Germans pushing them and with the British challenge below its best, they rammed home their pre-eminence at the Commonwealth Games.
Cycling
What: Sprint riders Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins won the world title in Cali, Colombia, in February, clocking 42.84s. They followed that with gold in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July.
