AUSTRALIA and the United States ended years of hurt in track cycling’s iconic Olympic team pursuit to land gold medals on another record-breaking day in the velodrome on Wednesday.
Australia’s men won a thrilling final against Britain to top the podium for the first time since 2004.
The U.S. then beat New Zealand in the women’s race to strike gold after two silvers and a bronze in the last three Games.
Team pursuit finals are always the highlight of any track championships and Australia v Britain did not disappoint in an absorbing neck-and-neck tussle played out against a deafening noise around the packed velodrome.
Throughout the 16-lap duel the Australian quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien were always fractionally ahead.
Gold was still in the balance as the bell rang for the final lap but calamity struck Britain as Ethan Hayter slipped and fell onto the top tube of his bike frame and just avoided crashing.
It was sweet revenge for Australia who lost to Britain in the 2012 and 2016 finals and saw their hopes dashed in Tokyo by a snapped handlebar. But they arrived in Paris with a formidable quartet and broke the
world record
in Tuesday’s first round.
“I’m just so proud of the team I’m a part of,“ O’Brien told reporters. “It’s an absolute honour to share the track with those guys, and even more so when you come away with gold.
“I have so much respect for that (British) team and those guys, so hats off to them for putting on a good show.”
Italy, the champions from Tokyo, beat Denmark to bronze.
Britain were left to rue Hayter’s hair-raising late moment that may have cost them gold.
“We were so close and I could see it,“ Hayter said. “It was nearly five laps at the end and I just really gave too much, and my whole body went weak and I really struggled to hold myself on the bike in the end.”
Charlie Tanfield defended his team mate: “He just kind of slid a bit. That was that. He did an amazing job. He did so much for the team.”
FAULKNER DOUBLE
The United States women’s team of Jennifer Valente, Lily Williams, Chloe Dygert and Kristen Faulkner were bidding to upgrade to gold after missing out on the title since the discipline was added to the programme in 2012.
After building a decent lead they struggled to stay together late on but had enough in the tank to remain ahead.
For Faulkner it was a second gold of the Games after she won the women’s road race -- making her the first American woman to win two titles at the same Olympics in two different disciplines.
“When I came into the programme in 2016 this was the medal that U.S. Cycling was aiming for more than any other discipline,“ Dygert, who has completed the set of medals, said.
“Now we’ve finally pulled it off.”
World records continued to tumble earlier on day three of track action with Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen blasting around the men’s 200 metres flying lap in 9.088, averaging 79kph.
Australian Matthew Richardson initially broke the world record set by Trinidad & Tobago’s Paul Nicholas in 2019 with 9.091 but the 27-year-old Lavreysen, fresh from his team sprint gold on Tuesday, went even quicker.
The start of the women’s keirin saw New Zealand’s world champion Ellesse Andrews make it safely through to the quarter-finals, as did Britain’s Emma Finucane and Canada’s Olympic sprint champion Kelsey Mitchell.
