August 11/24 12:50 pm - 3 Olympic Titles Awarded on Final Day of Competition

Posted by Editoress on 08/11/24
 

Olympic track cycling concluded on Sunday, the final day of these Olympics, with three titles awarded. Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) took his third gold medal in the men's Keirin, sweeping the Sprint events, Ellesse Andrews (NewZealand) took her second gold medal in the women's Sprint, and Jennifer Valente (USA) successfully defended her women's Omnium title. Kelsey Mitchell was the top Canadian performer, finishing eighth in the women's Sprint, while Maggie Coles-Lyster was ninth in the women's Omnium. Neither Nick Wammes nor James Hedgcock made it past the quarterfinals in the men's Keirin.

Valente came into the Omnium as the clear favourite, and she quickly put her stamp on the event, winning both the Scratch and Elimination races, and finishing second in the Tempo Race. In the final Points Race, she just had to monitor her opponents, taking lap halfway through to put the gold medal out of reach to any challengers. Daria Pikulik (Poland) vaulted into second after the final sprint, as did Ally Wollaston (New Zealand) for the final podium spot.

Coles-Lyster rode tactically well in the first three events - finishing second in the Scratch and third in the Elimination, to start the Points Race in third place overall. However, as usual, the Points Race proved to be the defining event. Coles-Lyster did score points in three of the sprints, but could not manage to take a lap (and the attendant 20 points), dropping her down the rankings. The battle was tight, with fifth through tenth places all within nine points of each other.

"The Points Race is really chaotic," said Coles-Lyster, "and there are lots of girls here who are really strong and could take laps. When it came down to it, I just didn't have the legs to follow for the laps that I needed. It's unfortunate, but I can take away what I need to work on. I have four more years to perfect this. I just need to continue to build my road engine; now that I'm over in Europe racing on the WorldTour, it's just coming. Having just come over last year, I feel like I'm playing a bit of catch up."

"Over time, the Omnium has really developed; if you watch Lotte Kopecky ([Belgium], she wasn't a huge factor in the first three races, but then she just goes and takes laps in the Points Race [two laps]. A lot of the Omnium depends on how you can race the Points Race. So that's the next job. It's a little bittersweet; I was really happy after the first three races, I was really proud of how I raced them. I was hoping for more."

In the women's Sprint competition, the gold medal battle was between Andrews, the winner of the Keirin and silver in the Team Sprint, and Lea Friedrich (Germany), who set a new world record in qualifying. However, Andrews was clearly more powerful, burning Friedrich off her wheel in two straight rides to take the title. Reigning world champion Emma Finucane (Great Britain) similarly beat Hetty van de Wouw in two straight for the bronze medal. Mitchell rode in the 5-8 final, attacking from the back and pulling even with leader Emma Hinze (Germany), before fading in the final 100 metres.

"I wasn't there physically," admitted Mitchell. "The other girls have gotten really strong, and we just haven't matched it. It's really upsetting; it feels like it happened two years ago at Worlds and I tried my best to not let it happen again. It's very upsetting, obviously, because everyone on the team worked so damn hard, and it's not the result I wanted. I think there's a lot we can point fingers at, but we don't need excuses, everyone had the same amount of time as us, everyone had to race the same and collect the same amount of points."

"Tokyo was a blessing for us, in that small bubble we were able to train hard and be so focussed, and it was amazing to see the outcome. Then life went back to normal and the group dynamics changed. I love the people I work with and I'm so fortunate ... but something's got to change."

In the men's Keirin, Lavreysen was the clear favourite - he had already won in both the Sprint and Team Sprint, and set a new world record in the Sprint, and was going for a clean sweep of the sprinting events. Lavreysen came from behind to sweep by the rest of the bunch and hold off Matthew Richardson (Australia) at the line. He becomes only the third man to win all three sprint titles at a single Olympics, joining Brits Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy. Matthew Glaetzer (Australia) took third after a crash marred the riders behind the front two. Muhammad Sahrom (Malaysia) and Shinji Nakano (Japan) collided coming out of the final turn, taking Nakano and Jack Carlin (Great Britain) down. Glaetzer, who had been sitting sixth at the back, was the only one to avoid the crash and rolled through to take the bronze medal. Carlin and Nakano did not finish and Sahrom was relegated.

After making it to the quarterfinal round in the men's Keirin, Canadians Nick Wammes and James Hedgcock did not advance, each finishing sixth in their final rides of the Games.

"I got stuck at the back a little bit," admitted Hedgcock, "and the whole race bunched up into a big wall and I found it hard to get around. I'm pretty disappointed I didn't make it through. But my legs felt good and I was able to keep up, which is alright. I'm happy [to be at the Olympics], this is my dream. I'm hoping that in four years time I'll be able to get a medal. It's my first Games, I'm one of the youngest guys out there. That's definitely a disadvantage, with the lack of experience. Going forward, towards 2028, I can look at it as a learning experience, and get better from there."

"When you do that [attack and go to the front early], it kind of goes one of two ways," said Wammes. "You either get hung out to dry, or someone follows you over and you get a good wheel. I had a lap on the front, and then Harrie [Lavreysen] came to the front, and he's unstoppable at 500 metres [to go]. I didn't have the legs to get on him, and the field came with him. I kind of hoped the Japanese rider [Nakano] would follow me over and I would have a wheel to chase, but he waited for Harrie, just like everyone else ... and that's what happened. I knew I had to try something; waiting in these races doesn't do you any good."

"There's been a lot of good and bad [at these Games]. I think, for me personally, the results weren't quite what I wanted, my legs didn't show up the way that I wanted them to, but peaking for a Games in a week long schedule is a tough thing. You can be off by a week or a few days, you never know. I don't think I got it perfect, which is unfortunate. Five days of racing is a lot to handle. We qualified a full team, which for us is huge, and it's a young team overall, so I think there's some exciting results to come."

Results   

Photos  

World Records Fall as Track Cycling Begins in Paris

Olympic Games: Records Continue to Fall at the Track on Day 2

Gold for Australia & USA on Day 3 at the Track

New Zealand & France Win Gold on Day 4

Gold Medals for Italy & Netherlands on Day 5

Olympic Games: Track Day 6