Australia beats Great Britain in men’s team pursuit, US wins women’s gold

(From left) Australia’s Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien pose with their gold medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. (AP Photo)

SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES: Australia and the US put an end to years of injuries in the iconic Olympic team pursuit track cycling event to claim gold medals on a new record day on the velodrome on Wednesday.

The Australian men won a thrilling final against Great Britain to top the podium for the first time since 2004.

The US then defeated New Zealand in the women’s race to take gold, after winning two silvers and one bronze in the last three Games.

The final of the team pursuit is always the highlight of a track championship. Australia and Great Britain were in a thrilling neck-and-neck race, which took place amid deafening noise on the packed velodrome.

Throughout the 16-round duel, the Australian quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien were always a fraction ahead.

As the final bell rang, gold was still in doubt, but disaster struck Britain when Ethan Hayter slid and landed on the top tube of his bike frame, narrowly avoiding a crash.

It was sweet revenge for Australia, who lost to Great Britain in the 2012 and 2016 finals and saw their hopes dashed in Tokyo by a broken 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 that I’m a part of,” O’Brien told reporters. “It’s an absolute honor to share the court 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 such a good show.”

Italy, the champions from Tokyo, defeated Denmark to take bronze.

Britain was left to rue Hayter’s hair-raising moment, which may have cost them gold.

“We were so close and I could see it,” Hayter said. “It was almost five laps to the end and I just gave in too much, and my whole body got weak and I really struggled to keep myself on the bike at the end.”

Charlie Tanfield defended his team-mate: “He just slipped away a bit. That was it. He did a great job. He did so much for the team.”

Faulkner doppelganger

The US women’s team of Jennifer Valente, Lily Williams, Chloe Dygert and Kristen Faulkner were eager to win gold after missing out on the title since the discipline was added to the program in 2012.

After building up a decent lead, they struggled to stay together in the closing stages, but they still had plenty in store to stay ahead.

For Faulkner, it was her second gold medal at the Games, after winning the women’s road race. She is the first American woman to win two titles at the same Olympics in two different disciplines.

“When I joined the program in 2016, this was the medal that US Cycling aspired to more than any other discipline,” said Dygert, who completed the medal haul.

“Now we have finally succeeded.”

World records were also broken on the third day of the track race, when Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen completed the men’s 200-meter flying lap in a time of 9.088 seconds, at an average speed of 79 km/h.

Australia’s Matthew Richardson initially broke the world record set by Trinidad and Tobago’s Paul Nicholas in 2019 with 9.091 seconds, but 27-year-old Lavreysen, who had just won gold with his team in the sprint on Tuesday, went even faster.

At the start of the women’s keirin, New Zealand world champion Ellesse Andrews safely reached the quarter-finals, as did Britain’s Emma Finucane and Canada’s Olympic sprint champion Kelsey Mitchell.