Kiwi rider rebounds from stripped silver to win second gold

By COURTNEY WALSH
Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — New Zealand cyclist Ellesse Andrews has turned her fortunes around in stunning fashion at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham after being stripped of a silver medal and fined. Andrews shocked Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell in the women’s sprint at the Lee Valley velodrome by reeling in the Canadian in both races to claim the gold medal. That was her second gold of the games. Andrews also filled in for an injured teammate in the separate 4,000-meter team pursuit and helped them to silver. But she was absent from the medal ceremony to prepare for the team sprint, and the UCI stripped her of the medal and fined her on Saturday. The UCI also fined an England para-cycling team that protested after being denied an opportunity to participate in a medal ceremony.