Tokyo 2020: Oldham cycling star Matt Walls reflects on 'incredible' week

Shaw’s gold-medal winner in the Omnium teamed with Ethan Hayter in the gruelling 200-lap race, the pair sealing a fine silver right at the death.

While world champions Lasse Norman Hansen and Michael Morkov took gold for Denmark, Walls and Hayter finished three points back, level with the French duo of Benjamin Thomas and Donavan Grondin, but took silver by winning the final sprint.

“I was cooked halfway in,” admitted Walls. “But we managed to get a bit of gas at the end to finish it off. It was literally everything we had.

“It’s been an incredible week. It’s a shame we couldn’t get a gold today but we’re still happy coming away with the silver. It’s still a good achievement.”

Britain had been well placed from the start of the race, leading after the fourth sprint, but gradually lost ground as France and then Denmark went on the attack.

It looked as though they were heading for bronze with 30 laps to go, trailing the French by nine points, but things changed as the Belgian pair of Kenny de Ketele and Robbe Ghys went on the offensive.

That brought them right into the picture for bronze, but Britain responded and by catching their attack they moved into position to win the last sprint and with it nick silver.

“There were definitely some points in there we could have improved on but to say we haven’t raced together in a Madison in a long time, obviously there were going to be some mistakes,” added Walls, a former St Joseph’s Primary School and Crompton House Secondary School student.

Matt Walls, right, with Ethan Hayter during the chaos that is the Olympic Madison

“We rode well, we were feeling good and came away with a silver, so I’m pretty happy with it.”

Hayter admitted he thought he was sprinting for bronze in the dramatic finale.

A day after Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald won the first ever women’s Madison at an Olympics, Walls and Hayter used a strong finish to add to the medal haul as this messy, chaotic but hugely popular event returned to the men’s programme for the first time since 2008.

“I thought (we’d got bronze),” Hayter said.

“Silver and bronze are both great, aren’t they? And we were actually closer to winning than I thought.

“We could have made up some points somewhere but then I think the Danes would have ridden differently.

"They were the stronger pair I think.”

Walls and Hayter had been in the top three of the standings from the first of the 20 sprints but saw that place come under pressure as the Belgian duo launched a late move.

Attack would prove the best form of defence for Hayter, however, as his bid to save third place ended with second.

“I was looking up at the board, I was coming in with two laps to go to do the last sprint,” he said.

“I saw a four-point gap to the Belgians and thought we have to beat them. But it’s so hard to keep track of what’s happening.”

It is the anarchy on track which makes the Madison so compelling.

But where Kenny and Archibald had used meticulous planning – seeking to defy the common wisdom this race cannot be controlled – to take gold 24 hours earlier, Walls and Hayter were not afforded that luxury.

These two emerging talents – Hayter is 22 and Walls 23 – have been regular Madison partners in the past, racing at under-23 level, but injury and illness hampered the Manchester housemates’ ability to train together over the past year.

A horror crash on the road at Gent-Wevelgem last October ruled Ineos Grenadiers rider Hayter out of the European Track Championships, and soon after he had recovered, Bora-Hansgrohe rider Walls was diagnosed with coronavirus in March.

Hayter was part of the Madison sessions Kenny and Archibald organised at the velodrome to hone their own tactics but would be denied the same opportunities with Walls.

It perhaps showed in the finer details on Saturday, but neither man was complaining.

They can now take their medals back to the house they share with Bahrain-Victorious rider Fred Wright – but the two team-mates will turn rivals again on the road within just a few days.

“We’re both going to Tour of Norway,” Hayter said. “We’ll be racing against each other this time.”