Paris 2024: British Cycling Trio Claims Women's Team Sprint Gold With World Record

PARIS, Aug 6 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Britain set a new world record of 45.186 seconds to win gold in the women’s team sprint at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the velodrome at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on Monday.

The trio of Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, and Emma Finucane beat New Zealand’s Rebecca Petch, Shaane Fulton, and Ellesse Andrews, who finished in 45.659 seconds, Xinhua reported.

"I have no words, it's literally incredible," said Marchant, who was a relatively late call-up to the team and whose last Olympic medal was in 2016.

Finucane was also delighted. "We've worked really hard on this and the process is the key," she said.

The team sprint sees teams of three riders race a distance of 750 meters (three laps) around the track with one rider dropping out after each lap, leaving one rider from each team to race over the line.

An incredible evening of racing saw Team GB set a new world record in each of their three runs, bringing down the best in each race, while the record fell no fewer than five times on what promised to be a lightning-fast track on the outskirts of Paris.

It was clear before the final that whoever wanted the gold medal would have to ride faster than ever before, with Team GB setting down a marker in qualification with a time of 45.472 seconds.

In the first round, Germany sent the time down with 45.377, before New Zealand rode the three circuits of the 250-meter track in 45.348 and Great Britain broke the record yet again by riding 45.338 seconds to book their place in the final.

New Zealand held a narrow lead at the end of the first lap, but Sophie Capewell pulled them back on the second circuit of the track and British cycling's new heroine Emma Finucane showed why she is tipped to win further gold in Paris by bringing her team home almost half a second ahead. 

“We really nailed the final and I really believed in us and to execute laps one, two and three perfectly and to cross the line first. I was like, 'no way!',” said Finucane, while Capewell couldn't believe they had set three new world records in the competition. 

“It didn't feel real all day, we just did every ride and thought, 'oh, we've done it faster and faster',” she laughed.

It was a disappointing race for China's trio of Guo Yufang, Bao Shanju and Yuan Liying, who went into the race after setting a new world record of 45.487 at the end of June, but could only finish fifth in qualifying and were then beaten by the Netherlands in the first round.

The men's team sprint qualifying round was held earlier in the day with the Netherlands clocking the fastest time with a new Olympic record of 41.279 seconds, while in the men's team pursuit, Australian quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O'Brien put down a marker with a time of 3.42.958 seconds at a speed of 64.586 kilometres an hour for the 16 laps of the track.

Australia was 0.283 seconds faster than Team GB's Ethan Hayter, Oliver Wood, Daniel Bigham, and Ethan Vernon, who completed the four kilometres in 3:43.241, with Denmark and Italy finishing third and fourth in qualifying.

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA