KEY POINTS:
When Hayden Roulston returned to the Olympic village with a silver medal draped around his neck, his team pursuit mates were supposed to be upstairs asleep.
It was 10pm and more than 50 members of the New Zealand team were giving the individual pursuit track cyclist a rousing haka to welcome him back and congratulate him for the medal few had predicted.
The members of the team pursuit squad, which Roulston will join today in an attempt to win another medal, were in bed preparing for yesterday afternoon's qualifying ride.
"The guys were fizzing and when the big haka was going on, they wanted to be part of it but they weren't allowed," Roulston said yesterday. "They were so over the moon."
The Ashburton rider will use his second place performance on Saturday behind Britain's Bradley Wiggins to inspire his teammates in the 4000m team pursuit, and partner Greg Henderson in the madison.
"I've got another couple of shots [at medals]," he said. "In the team pursuit we have definitely got a chance and in the madison anything can happen so I'm really, really looking forward to the next couple of races."
Roulston made the individual final with a sizzling ride in the first round on Saturday, earning a head-to-head showdown with Wiggins. He lead the Briton by 0.3 seconds after the first 1000m before the world champion took control. Roulston came back towards the end, but Wiggins had done enough for gold, winning in 4min 16.977sec to Roulston's 4min 19.611sec.
In the ride-off for bronze, Steven Burke, of Great Britain, beat Alexei Markov, of Russia.
Wiggins paid respect to the silver medallist, saying of Roulston: "He has made fantastic progress in the event since last year. Somehow he drifted off the road and on to the track. Hayden could be an Olympic champion as well, he's just gathering confidence. It's just now starting to snowball."
The path to the victory dais for Roulston has not been easy. He has had two brushes with the law for fighting, then faced a career-ending diagnosis in late 2006 when doctors told him he had a heart condition which they said could kill him if he continued to ride. He returned to the bike within months saying the Japanese healing technique reiki had turned his life and health around. As he prepared for the final, all that had happened to him hit home, Roulston said.
"It was interesting I was actually quite emotional before I went on, everything started to hit me. I calmed myself down and I was very relaxed right the way throughout. Even now I feel as if the pressure is off and I'm going to enjoy the next couple of days because now the responsibility is spread over four riders and that to me is a huge weight off my shoulders."
He was happy with his ride but knows there is more left. "I rode as hard as I could, you know. When I walked off the track there was probably two or three laps I didn't ride my best but that was just the way it goes. There are definitely no excuses. There's going to be that day one day when I do 16 laps which I can walk away and be happy with.
"Last night I think there was 13. I'm not stopping yet."
