British women’s sprint team break world record to win track cycling gold at Paris Olympics
MONTIGNY-LE-BRETONNEUX, France — British trio Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane smashed the women’s team sprint world record as they beat New Zealand in a straight gold medal showdown on Monday night to open the track cycling programme at the Paris Olympics.
In the three-lap race, the British trio trailed Rebecca Petch, Shaane Fulton and Ellesse Andrews after the first 250 metres. But they quickly took the lead after the second lap and then accelerated on the final lap to finish in 45.196 seconds, winning their country’s first medal in the event on a hot and humid night at the Vélodrome National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
Despite their proud sprinting tradition, the British have missed out on the podium on several occasions since the event’s debut in 2008.
The two fastest teams to win the heats qualified for the gold medal. New Zealand secured their place by setting a world record against Poland, and Great Britain joined the Kiwis by breaking that record against Canada.
It turned out that the British would break their own mark again about an hour later.
Germany also briefly held the world record after their qualifying race against Mexico. But the team of Pauline Grabosch, Lea Friedrich and Emma Hinze, who have dominated the event since the Tokyo Games, had to fight for the bronze medal.
They beat the Netherlands to extend their podium streak to four times when the event was contested at the Olympic Games.
The reason for all the records is that the women’s team sprint was changed after Tokyo to mirror the men’s event, meaning three riders are on the track instead of two. And the Chinese, defending their Olympic title, were slow to adapt. They got off to a false start in qualifying and then finished well behind the Dutch in their heat, missing out on the medals altogether.
In other events on the opening night of track cycling, the reigning champion Dutch men’s sprint team of Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland broke their own Olympic record with a time of 41.279 seconds in qualifying. The British team of Ed Lowe, Jack Carlin and Hamish Turnbull qualified second and the Australian team third.
The Netherlands, who have won five of the last six world titles in the three-round sprint, will aim for gold on Tuesday night.
Lavreysen is aiming for three gold medals at the velodrome after narrowly missing out on that goal in Tokyo. The 27-year-old also won gold in the individual sprint three years ago, but could only manage bronze in the keirin.
In the men’s team pursuit, the British team, whose streak of three consecutive Olympic gold medals was ended by Italy and Denmark at the Tokyo Games, sent a warning to their biggest rivals in qualifying.
The quartet of Ethan Hayter, Oliver Wood, Dan Bigham and Ethan Vernon covered the 4-kilometre distance in 3:43.241, the fastest time among several other attempts. The only team to beat them was the Australians, who surprisingly topped the qualifying session in 3:42.958, not far off the Italian world record set in Tokyo.
“We had a little disappointment in Tokyo with our crash,” said Australia’s Sam Welsford. “So it was a big redemption to come here, and we have a very good chance of doing it. We’ve done the process and the preparation.”
Reigning Olympic champions Italy finished last but were never on the same pace, finishing fourth in qualifying. World champions Denmark finished third behind Australia and Great Britain, stopping the clock at 3:43.690 ahead of Tuesday’s lead races.
“We didn’t give our best, not really. We have to be a little bit careful,” said Italy’s Jonathan Milan. “I’m pretty positive. Now we have to rest as much as possible and come back tomorrow as fresh as possible.”
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