From gold medalist to a tarnished reputation.

Sam Gaze's sportsmanship is under fire for comments after his otherwise outstanding gold medal finish in the men's mountain biking on the Gold Coast.

He's been forced to apologise to fellow Kiwi rider Anton Cooper - who claimed the silver - after calling him out for not stopping when Gaze had a puncture.

During the race, Gaze 'flipped the bird' when Cooper sailed past, even though he chased him down in a momentous effort to take out the gold. 

NZME sports reporter Brenton Vannisselroy told Mike Hosking says there's no protocol in mountain biking that you should wait for your fellow countryman's mechanical problems to be fixed.

"There's no way Sam Gaze would have waited for Anton Cooper if the same happened to Cooper. Cooper didn't even know Gaze had a major issue anyway."

LISTEN ABOVE AS BRENTON VANNISSELROY SPEAKS WITH MIKE HOSKING