LOS ANGELES 1984 IT was one of the remarkable Aussie Olympic performances, when four men battling different challenges combined for gold in the 4000m cycling event. 
While the Aussies were considered a medal chance, the Americans had been widely tipped to win the final, but came unstuck when one of their riders missed his pedal at the start, and they were reduced to just three riders.
Aussies Kevin Nichols, Michael Grenda, Michael Turtur and Victorian teenager Dean Woods not only defeated the US but a few personal issues as well.
Turtur overcame a crisis of confidence that had prevented him competing in Moscow in 1980 and a broken wrist that he refused to have put in plaster. He had his wrist strapped to the handlebars before each ride. Grenda, a Tasmanian, sustained severe head injuries after a fall a year before the Olympics and then broke his pelvis. Woods was an exciting talent but he rode on a bike rejected by another cyclist in the Australian team because it was considered too old-fashioned. In fact, all of the team rode on old bikes - unlike the US team, light bike frames and disc wheels were not part of the Aussie cycling kit. But together the Australians were a formidable team.Woods and Turtur took the Aussies out strongly in the first two laps and set it up for Nichols and Grenda to bring home the gold.