Olympics: British Team Take Gold in Team Pursuit
Bradley Wiggins and his team-mates produced a world-record performance to give Team GB their 12th gold of the Games
Britain reached 12 gold medals - half of them for their cyclists - today when the men's team pursuit quartet broke the world record for the second time in consecutive races as they swept to a crushing victory over Denmark in the Laoshan velodrome.
For 28-year-old Bradley Wiggins, this was a third Olympic gold - the second in the current Games - and a sixth medal in all. Ed Clancy, aged 23, Paul Manning, 33, and Geraint Thomas, 22, were mounting the top step of an Olympic podium for the first time.
Britain took a narrow lead off the start and when the Danes came back at them towards the end of the first kilometer they resisted and gradually increased their lead until, after Manning had peeled off with 500m to go, they almost caught their opponents. In the Antipodean battle for the bronze, the black-clad New Zealand quartet proved too fast for Australia.
There was one other final today but, to no one's great surprise, Rebecca Romero failed to figure in the women's points race. Goodness knows how much adrenaline she had expended in winning the women's individual pursuit 24 hours before, but there was not enough left in the tank to allow her to contest the lead in a 25km race of great tactical complexity.
Not having grown up as a bike racer, she also lacks the close-quarters awareness necessary for manoeuvring at speed in a bunch of 20 riders. Her principal gift is for sustained rather than explosive power, and she cannot call upon the sort instant kick that allowed Marianne Vox, the Dutch rider, to steal a lap on the field and win the points that gave her the gold medal.
In the quarter-finals of the men's sprint, Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny needed only two races in the best-of-three series to dispose of their opponents, Mohd Awang of Malaysia and Kevin Sireau of France respectively. They will be joined in the last four by Maximilian Levy of Germany and Mickael Bourgain of France.
In the quarter-finals of the women's event Victoria Pendleton comfortably disposed of Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania and will meet Willy Kanis of the Netherlands in the semi-final, with either Anna Meares of Australia or Guo Shuang of China awaiting the winner in the final.
For 28-year-old Bradley Wiggins, this was a third Olympic gold - the second in the current Games - and a sixth medal in all. Ed Clancy, aged 23, Paul Manning, 33, and Geraint Thomas, 22, were mounting the top step of an Olympic podium for the first time.
Britain took a narrow lead off the start and when the Danes came back at them towards the end of the first kilometer they resisted and gradually increased their lead until, after Manning had peeled off with 500m to go, they almost caught their opponents. In the Antipodean battle for the bronze, the black-clad New Zealand quartet proved too fast for Australia.
There was one other final today but, to no one's great surprise, Rebecca Romero failed to figure in the women's points race. Goodness knows how much adrenaline she had expended in winning the women's individual pursuit 24 hours before, but there was not enough left in the tank to allow her to contest the lead in a 25km race of great tactical complexity.
Not having grown up as a bike racer, she also lacks the close-quarters awareness necessary for manoeuvring at speed in a bunch of 20 riders. Her principal gift is for sustained rather than explosive power, and she cannot call upon the sort instant kick that allowed Marianne Vox, the Dutch rider, to steal a lap on the field and win the points that gave her the gold medal.
In the quarter-finals of the men's sprint, Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny needed only two races in the best-of-three series to dispose of their opponents, Mohd Awang of Malaysia and Kevin Sireau of France respectively. They will be joined in the last four by Maximilian Levy of Germany and Mickael Bourgain of France.
In the quarter-finals of the women's event Victoria Pendleton comfortably disposed of Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania and will meet Willy Kanis of the Netherlands in the semi-final, with either Anna Meares of Australia or Guo Shuang of China awaiting the winner in the final.
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
- Team Gb Closes Fast on Olympic Berth in Beijing
- Olympics: No Regrets, No Limits - How Du Toit Lost a Leg But Won Over the World
- Olympics: Christie Has Had His Cold Turkey and Should Not Be on the Run
- Olympics: Tv Holds Key to a Midnight 100m in London
- Olympics: Four Brush World Aside After Blood, Sweat and Tears
- Olympics: Isinbayeva Raises the Bar and the Bird's Nest Roof
- Olympics: The Man Behind the Medals: How a Failed Racer Drove Britain's Cyclists to Glory
- Olympics: Victory Parade for Team Gb But Funding May Be Cut
- Olympics: Wiggins Stands on the Brink of Historic Hat-trick
- Olympics: Price Knuckles Down to Guarantee Himself a Medal
- Olympics: Danvers Reaches Hurdles Final
- Olympics: Tweddle Narrowly Misses Out on Medal
- Olympics: Brabants Paddles Towards More Medal Joy
- Olympics: Cyclists Sweep the Board in Unrelenting Mastery
- Looking Good for Gold: Victoria Pendleton
- Olympics: Wilder Carries the Hopes of a Nation, and of His Daughter
- Little Girl Not Pretty Enough to Sing at Olympics
- Let the Games Begin!
- Islamic Group Threatens to Attack Summer Olympics
- Double Amputee Wins Right to Compete in Olympics
- 2008 Summer Olympics Continue to Woo Viewers with New DVDs