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The bike failure during the team pursuit qualifying sent Porter
crashing face-first into the velodrome and later triggered a
review.
"We apologise to Alex and his fellow riders, to the broader
Australian Olympic team and to the Australian public, all of
whom were entitled to expect better," AusCycling Chief Executive
Marne Fechner said in a statement on Thursday.
"The (review) recommendations are very clear, in that there's a
complete overhaul required in how we go about our business."
An assessment by mechanical and aeronautical engineer John Baker
said the custom-built handlebars did not meet specification and
had not had adequate "fatigue testing".
"The report found that a lack of adequate processes and policies
meant that the issues weren't detected and rectified before the
team raced at the Games," AusCycling said.
Though Australia rallied to take bronze in the team pursuit, the
snapped handlebar was the low point of a poor Olympics for a
country that lavishes funding on track cycling and once prided
itself on the strength of its programme.
Australia's sole bronze medal at Tokyo was the team's worst
performance on the Olympic velodrome since the 1980 Moscow
Games.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christopher
Cushing)
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