Olympic track cycling: GB’s team pursuit and men’s team sprint squads in action at Paris 2024

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Britain’s men’s sprint team said they had done “the best they could have done on the day” as they took silver behind the rampant Dutch on the second night of track cycling in Paris.

In what was almost a carbon copy of Monday’s opening night at the velodrome, the evening’s victorious team set world records in successive rounds to storm to gold.

Unfortunately for Team GB fans, it was the Netherlands men’s team who did to Britain what Britain’s women’s team had done to New Zealand the night before.

Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland absolutely pulverised the trio of Ed Lowe, Josh Turnbull and Jack Carlin in a one-sided final, their effort of 40.949 beating the British time of 41.814 by almost a second. In doing so, the Dutch became the first team ever to dip below the 41-second barrier.

It’s silver for GB in the men’s team sprint! 🥈

The Netherlands were just unstoppable. They’ve broken their own world record in winning gold 🔥#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Ph7VXasUVy^[1][2][3][4]

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 6, 2024^[5]

To write this off as a failure for Sir Jason Kenny’s men would be grossly unfair, however.

Even if this is an event which GB dominated for three successive Games from Beijing to Rio, the truth is the Dutch have been the team to beat for a long time now. The reigning Olympic champions are so strong Kenny even revealed afterwards that he had decided not to try to match them in terms of gearing in the final.

“We had a choice with the last one,” Kenny admitted. “We could put massive gears on and throw everything at it and hope for the best but in all likelihood the gears we were on we believed were the quickest anyway. That’s why we were on them.

“So we sat down and thought, let’s just do our ride and go as fast as we can. Obviously the Dutch are quicker but if they crack we’ve got to be close to pick up the pieces. They didn’t, they executed perfectly themselves, and they’re in a different league at the minute.”

Carlin said the same thing, adding that putting on too big a gear was a mistake the British trio made in Tokyo three years ago, where they were also beaten into second place by the Dutch.

“I remember Jason was on the floor sick, he was so tired,” he recalled. “It took him all week to recover. He only got his legs back for the keirin in the final day. So we weren’t going to make that mistake again.”

This British team are building under Kenny. Lowe, just 20, joined the podium squad only last autumn. Turnbull is 25. Carlin is 27. They set a national record in the final of 41.814sec. “It’s four years of hard work now for Los Angeles,” Turnbull said. “We are going for gold there.”

Ed Lowe (left), Hamish Turnbull (centre) and Jack Carlin continued Great Britain’s medal-winning start in the Olympic velodrome at Paris 2024


Credit: PA/David Davies

Kenny, GB’s most successful Olympian of all time, admitted it had felt “weird” watching from the sidelines, having won nine Olympic medals himself, seven of them gold. After the podium ceremony, he was spotted chatting to his wife Dame Laura Kenny, Britain’s most successful female Olympian, who is in Paris for the BBC. The wheels of time.

But he said he was “really pleased” with the squad overall, and tipped them to win more medals this week in the individual sprint and the keirin.

“Jack and Ham both look really good, they’ve been doing 12.2s all day so really fast and I’m really looking forward to what they can do,” he said. “The lads did a really good job. They produced three perfect rides. Particularly the first one was really good. And yeah, they got what they deserved. I’m really pleased for them.”

Dame Laura Kenny and Sir Jason Kenny are British cycling’s golden couple


Credit: Getty Images/Alex Whitehead

Wednesday is team pursuit day and it looks as if it is going to be a similarly tall order for both the GB teams.

The men’s quartet of Ethan Hayter, Ollie Wood, Ethan Vernon and Charlie Tanfield, standing in for Dan Bigham, produced an exceptional ride to qualify for the gold medal match. In qualifying on Monday night they went almost two seconds quicker than they had ever ridden before with a 3:43.241. Then in the first round on Tuesday they went over a second quicker again with a 3:42.151.

Mighty impressive. But not quite as impressive as the Australians who followed them out on to the track and produced a 3:40.730, lowering the world record by 1.3sec. Madness.

As for the women, given they have been shorn of their biggest engine in Katie Archibald – who tripped up in her garden back in June and managed to dislocate her ankle, break her tibia and fibula and rip two ligaments off the bone – the quartet of Josie Knight, Elinor Barker, Anna Morris and Jess Roberts did well to qualify third quest behind New Zealand and the United States. 

Their time of 4:06.710 was also a national record, albeit it was two seconds slower than New Zealand who look the team to beat. Importantly, though, it ensured they have the possibility of going through to a medal ride.

“I’m really happy,” Barker reflected. “I think that was a great time, it’s a national record, can’t go too wrong with that.”

British trio win team sprint silver: As it happened

7:38PM
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What’s on tomorrow?

There’s a full day of action to look forward to in the velodrome, with the men’s sprint qualifying and 1/32 round, women’s keirin first round and repechages, and women’s team pursuit first round, deciding who will race for the medals. Team GB were third fastest in qualifying this evening, so they’re in with a shout.

In the afternoon, the highlights are the men’s team pursuit finals at 17:33 BST, where Australia and GB will go head-to-head for gold, and the women’s team pursuit finals at 17:57, followed by the men’s sprint 1/8 round.

7:34PM
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Dutch on top, but GB go for gold again tomorrow in team pursuit

Roy van den Berg celebrates Dutch gold in the men’s team sprint.


Credit: PA/David Davies



Lowe, Turnbull and Carlin race to silver in the men’s team sprint.


Credit: Reuters/Matthew Childs



More gold on the horizon? GB go in the men’s team pursuit final tomorrow. Ollie Wood was delighted with their first round ride.


Credit: Getty Images/Jared C. Tilton


7:26PM
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Jack Carlin set to contend for keirin and individual sprint gold

The Scotsman looks in fine nick, anchoring the team sprint and helping to open up their lead against Germany in the first round. Looks like he will push Harrie Lavreysen close for sprint gold, having taken bronze three years ago in Tokyo. Speaking to the BBC, he said:

“I’m feeling really good. As a team, we came and delivered. It was the best we could have done probably on the day. Hamish rode really flat, which I didn’t do for Jason [Kenny] in Tokyo. That’s down to his delivery and he made my lap look good. Two boys that came in without any experience at this kind of level, I’m really proud of both them.”

7:22PM
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Flawless Dutch brought the noise

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The reality was GB needed the Dutch to make a mistake and they didn’t. They were faultless. First team ever to break 41 seconds and it brought the house down. Great atmosphere in here tonight despite the sweltering heat.

7:19PM
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“We came here expecting third”: no hard feelings for smiling GB silver medallists

Speaking to Eurosport, Jack Carlin expressed his pride at GB’s team sprint showing:

“We’ve executed three really solid rides there. I think we can be proud of that as a team, we knew we were up against it coming into it, but stuck to our processes. We focused, knuckled down, it’s these first two’s Olympics and I think both of them stepped up to the occasion and they’ve got a medal to show for it.”

Hamish Turnbull on exceeding their own expectations:

“To be honest, we came here expecting to fight for third. As soon as we got into that gold final, all the stress was off. We tried to express what we could do and enjoy it.”

7:13PM
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Netherlands win gold in new world record; silver for GB

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For the first time ever, the 41-second barrier has been broken. 40.949 is madness. Those Dutch masters just keep getting faster.

41.814 for Team GB is their fastest time from the three rounds. They were never ahead at any of the splits. They’ve performed excellently, they were just beaten by a sensational, better team. Winning by almost a second, given the paper-thin margins, is almost unheard of.

It’s silver for GB in the men’s team sprint! 🥈

The Netherlands were just unstoppable. They’ve broken their own world record in winning gold 🔥#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Ph7VXasUVy^{[12][13][14][15]}

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 6, 2024^[16]

7:10PM
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Team GB go for gold against the Netherlands

Van den Berg, Hoogland and Lavreysen step onto the track. These monsters can put out over 2,300 watts. They’ve already set a new world record.

Jack Carlin bangs his hands on his helmet in a final act of motivation. Ed Lowe will lead them off, before swinging off for Turnbull to hit it on the front for a lap before the Scotsman finishes it off. Here we go…

7:07PM
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Australia pip France for bronze

“Allez les bleus!” booms around the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, but it’s not quite enough to spur France on for a bronze medal.

41.597 for Australia against a very respectable 41.993.

7:01PM
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GB’s men’s team sprinters go for gold in eight minutes

There’s just time to put the kettle on and get a brew.

It was silver at Tokyo 2020 for GB’s trio. They’re guaranteed the same again. But given the dominance in qualifying and round one from the Netherlands, you’d think the hulking men in orange would need to make an error or two, along with Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin putting in the laps of their lives.

Jack Carlin sees Great Britain into the gold medal final in the first round.


Credit: AFP/Thomas Samson


6:57PM
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Australia throw down gauntlet with “insane” team pursuit time

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That was incredible. A bit like the men’s team sprint earlier this evening, when we saw the Netherlands go out and smash the GB time, Australia have just thrown down the gauntlet in a big way. 3:40.730? Lowering the world record by 1.3sec?? Insane. 

Mind you, GB are also lowering their PBs by huge margins. Last night’s qualifying mark of 3:43.241 was already almost two seconds quicker than they had ever ridden before. The GB quartet went over a second quicker again tonight with a 3:42.151. 

Great stuff. You’d have to say the Aussies are the big favourites tomorrow night but pressure can do funny things to people. Maybe Dan Bigham will have some wacky strategy planned to spook the Green and Gold?

6:53PM
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Men’s team pursuit first round results

1. Australia 3:40.730 beat Italy 3:43.205
2. Great Britain 3:42.151 beat Denmark 3:42.803
3. France 3:45.531 beat Canada 3:49.245
4. New Zealand 3:43.776 beat Belgium 3:45.685

The men’s team pursuit final is at 17:04 BST tomorrow. Australia and Great Britain go for gold, Denmark will face Italy for bronze.

6:50PM
^[22]

World record for Australia!

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Australia have beaten reigning champions Italy and lowered the world record by 1.3 seconds with 3:40.730.

A formidable task for GB to beat the favourites. There have been so many enthralling battles between these two famous sporting rivals in this prestigious track event, and we’ll see another tomorrow evening.

6:44PM
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Team GB beat Denmark, they will go for gold tomorrow evening

Oh my, what a see-saw ride. 3:42.151 for the GB quartet, so close to the world record.

If you want to get someone into track cycling, show them that ride. Great Britain started off considerably quicker, like a steam train, +0.504 secs up after a kilometre. However, the Danes turned it round, taking the lead at the 1,625m mark, and then GB went a second down at the 2,875km mark.

With both teams down to three men, they showed their strength and willpower. It was +0.321 with 500 metres to go and going into the final lap, they took the lead again. Phew.

Vernon and Tanfield congratulate each other, with non-riding teammate Bigham also hugging them. They look delighted.

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6:38PM
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GB v Denmark – winner competes for gold

Ethan Hayter, Ollie Wood, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon line up. Wonder whether one is called Big Ethan and the other Little Ethan to help differentiate… 

Tanfield has been substituted in for Dan Bigham, he may well offer slightly fresher legs.

The time is not really relevant here: the winner of this heat races for gold. However, Denmark had a false start, which will delay the ride by a couple of minutes.

6:34PM
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New Zealand in with a chance of bronze ride-off

France nearly caught Canada but they dropped their third man (whose time counts) in the last kilometre on the way to 3:45.531. That’s an example of how easily it can go wrong. They almost went too fast for their own good.

However, in the first heat, New Zealand stopped the clock at 3:43.776. Faint chance of a bronze medal ride-off if one of the favourites falters.

6:31PM
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First round of the men’s team pursuit; GB go next

For gold, it’s all about the third and fourth heat. “De facto semi finals,” as Rob Hatch just called them on Eurosport.

After yesterday’s qualifying, there are no weak teams in there: Team GB, second fastest with 3:43.241, go against reigning world champs Denmark, before fastest qualifiers Australia (3:42.958) go against fourth-quickest Italy. It’s wide open.

6:26PM
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GB must apply pressure against dynamite Dutch sprinters

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Oh wow. That was absolutely huge from the Dutch. New world record 41.191sec. The Orange Army is on its feet here. But GB will get to take a crack at them later after posting a 41.819sec which was fractionally (0.043sec) quicker than their qualifying effort last night. 

Interesting to note the splits in the GB ride. Ed Lowe was a tiny bit quicker than he was last night on the first lap (17.272 vs 17.290). GB were then slightly behind their time from last night by the end of lap two (29.532 vs 29.488). Which means it was another strong ride from Jack Carlin – clearly in excellent nick – to finish things off. 

Fair to say the Dutch are overwhelming favourites for gold. Things would need to go badly awry for them to lose. It’s up to GB to apply pressure. You never know.

6:20PM
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Dutch masters go quickest with new world record

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Roy van den Berg got them going before Jeffrey Hoogland and Harrie Lavreysen blew Canada away.

41.191 beats their own world record set four years ago. The masters of this discipline will take some beating in the gold medal final at approximately 19:10 BST, a fearsome rival for Team GB.

Van den Berg, Hoogland and Lavreysen on the way to a new world record.


Credit: AP/Thibault Camus


6:17PM
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GB guaranteed silver; will race for gold at 19:10

Ed Lowe gave everything out of the start gate, with a 17.2 slightly up on Germany. Hamish Turnbull kept it going, but they were pushed all the way by the seventh-fastest qualifier. They were It was only +0.118 up until Carlin turned a small gap into a chasm with his 250-metre final lap.

41.819, they will race in the final in approximately 55 minutes.

Just the Netherlands to go.

6:12PM
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France and Australia will race for a medal

Away at the third time of asking after two false starts, France get a lightning start and get the better of Japan, clocking 42.376.

Australia go faster than China, with 42.336, despite second man Richardson dropping Glaetzer. Nightmare scenario.

Now, let’s see what Team GB can do. Go faster and/or repeat their sub 42-second ride from yesterday and they’re guaranteed a ride in the gold medal final.

6:00PM
^[31]

Men’s team sprint first round up next

There are four head-to-head heats, based on the qualifying times from yesterday’s round. 

Great Britain’s trio of Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin go in the penultimate one, up against Germany. They clocked 41.862, second quickest.

Big favourites Netherlands – who set a new Olympic record with 41.279 – go last against Canada.

The fastest two winning teams race for the gold and silver medals and the other two winning teams race for the bronze medal. The losers are classified fifth to eighth by their respective times.

5:56PM
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“The best ride we could do”: GB’s team pursuiters react to third fastest

Elinor Barker on their ride:

“I’m really happy. I think that was a great time, it’s a national record, can’t go too wrong with that … when you see the time New Zealand just did, we knew we would have to focus on ourselves, hit our processes and make sure we’re still in medal contention.”

Josie Knight on the fast velodrome:

“We know the track is riding really quick so we expected fast times. But like El said, we focused on ourselves and did the best ride we could do, and I think we got that out.”

5:47PM
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Fifth for reigning champions Germany

It was always going away from Germany, who haven’t been the powerhouse women’s team pursuit nation since their 2021 heyday. No Lisa Brennauer in their line-up, no party.

They won’t be going for gold, bronze is the best they can hope for. New Zealand will be the talk of the velodrome after that scintillating showing – and the favourites for gold.

1. New Zealand 4:04.679
2. USA 4:05.238
3. Great Britain 4:06.710
4. Italy 4:07.579
5. Germany 4:08.313
6. Australia 4:08.612
7. France 4:08.797
8. Canada 4:12.205
9. Ireland 4:12.447
10. Japan 4:13.818

5:42PM
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World record will surely tumble

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What a ride from New Zealand. United States strong as well. That world record is going to go this week, isn’t it? 

On the subject of Josie Knight doing “a lot of laps on the front” (see earlier post), she said the plan had been for her to do five and Katie Archibald to do five. 

Now, she may have to do more. “Our original strategy was five laps for Katie and I each, and that was split across two turns, so two and a half, two and a half,” she said. “It’s not too dissimilar [now]. So that’s my plan currently. Obviously it depends on what happens in front of us, but we’re definitely aiming for a two-turn strategy. I will just hopefully do whatever’s left at the end.”

5:40PM
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GB go third fastest

Josie Knight took over for the final 750 metres, limiting any more losses. The remaining GB trio stop the clock at 4:06.710, just over two seconds slower than New Zealand. That’s a new national record.

That also guarantees a place in the top four, ensuring the possibility to ride for a medal with head-to-head heats where the teams with the fastest two times will race for gold. That will be decided in tomorrow’s first round. Just Germany to come, here are the scores on the doors:

1. New Zealand 4:04.679
2. USA 4:05.238
3. Great Britain 4:06.710
4. Italy 4:07.579
5. Australia 4:08.612
6. France 4:08.797
7. Canada 4:12.205
8. Ireland 4:12.447
9. Japan 4:13.818

Third fastest in qualifying ⚡@TeamGB remain in the women’s team pursuit medal hunt 🇬🇧#BBCOlympics #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/23IU2b8Trw^{[36][37][38][39][40]}

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 6, 2024^[41]

5:36PM
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Team GB third fastest through 2km

Anna Morris got the quartet up to speed well before Elinor Barker took over, but they’re 1.375 seconds down on New Zealand going into the final 1,500 metres. It looks like it’s getting away from them.

5:33PM
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False start for Team GB

Very marginal, that. It won’t do much for the nerves of debutant Anna Morris in P1.

Elinor Barker is at her third Olympic Games, all that experience will come in handy. They re-settle, clip in and are held in the gates. Here they go again…

5:31PM
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Team USA go second

The perennial Olympic team pursuit medallists clock 4:05.238, guaranteeing a place in the top four. The team included world time trial champion Chloe Dygert and recently-crowned road race gold medallist Kristen Faulkner. Dygert, who crashed in both road events, was leaning on a Team USA staffer for support as she walked off the bike.

Team GB are off next. They will have to go faster than ever before if they want to trouble New Zealand or Italy. 

5:23PM
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Let’s stay together

Al Green had it right. Mastering this discipline is about keeping the fourth rider for as long as possible. New Zealand were down to three at the 2,500-metre mark, but they kept putting time into Italy. 

Their time of 4:04.679 is staggering – just a couple of tenths outside the world record.

The mark of 4:04.242 which Germany set, is under threat – theoretically, the best three teams are still to come. USA up next, then it’s Team GB’s quartet of  Josie Knight, Elinor Barker, Anna Morris and Jess Roberts.

New Zealand come close to the world record in qualifying.


Credit: Getty Images/Jared C. Tilton


5:14PM
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Italy go fastest with 4:07.579

First, Australia went fastest with 4:08.612, then Italy were a second quicker. Both times would have won the World Championships in the last couple of years.

But those comparisons are not so reliable. As we see at every Olympic Games, every team seems to be going faster than ever before, utilising every technical or physiological advantage from the last three years. This track in the Paris outskirts is producing blisteringly quick times too. The air density is dropping inside the velodrome.

Four more nations to go, with Team GB off second to last. The live standings:

1. Italy 4:07.579
2. Australia 4:08.612
3. France 4:08.797
4. Canada 4:12.205
5. Ireland 4:12.447
6. Japan 4:13.818

5:04PM
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Team GB off in about 20 minutes. Can they do it without Archibald?

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First up, we have women’s team pursuit qualifying. The big question in this one is to what extent Katie Archibald’s absence will have an effect. She tripped up in her garden back in June and managed to dislocate her ankle, break her tibia and fibula and rip two ligaments off the bone. It was devastating news for Archibald personally, especially given what she has been through in the last two years. But also devastating for the British squad. Archibald is probably the strongest female track endurance rider in the world. Take the biggest engine out of your lineup and of course you are going to be short of some horsepower. That’s before you get to the emotional side of the equation. Josie Knight, who rides tonight along with Elinor Barker, Anna Morris and Jess Roberts, is Archibald’s housemate. 

I spoke with Knight and Barker last week and they admitted it has been a difficult period. “It was hugely, hugely disappointing,” Knight said. “Particularly for me, because I live with Katie. We’ve been working together towards this goal for months and months. It really felt like the whole thing had gone down the drain a little bit because we’d come up with our strategy, we had our plan, and then suddenly she wasn’t there. It was like, ‘Well gosh.’ 

The plan was that she’d do five laps on the front and I’d do five laps on the front. We don’t have someone else who can slot in and do that, so there was no direct substitute.”

That said, both Knight and Barker were bullish they could still be competitive. “[It will be] very similar to our strategy in Glasgow [where they won the world title last year]. We’ve got Jess Roberts in the team, so she’s going to drop in and go into position three. But it’s similar to Glasgow. There are a lot of laps on the front for me.” 

Asked whether gold was still within GB’s grasp, Knight added: “That’s a hard one to answer, isn’t it? When we had Katie in the team, gold was very much my goal and ambition. When she broke her ankle, I fully thought, ‘Well that’s it done. There’s no way we can do this without her.’ But I’ve been keeping the faith, and what we did yesterday [in our race hit-out] was really promising. There’s definitely a part of me that thinks, ‘You know what, we can still do this.’”

Barker, meanwhile, said it was an opportunity for others to step up and fill Archibald’s shoes. “I think every time something like this happens it does open up an opportunity and there’s a big silver lining to it,” she said. “So we just have to try and look at it in that way and see the opportunities it’s opened up for the other riders [Morris and Roberts], the younger riders coming through to their first Olympics.”

No Laura Archibald (or Dame Laura Kenny, left) in Paris. Will it hamper the team pursuit?


Credit: Getty Images/Justin Setterfield


4:58PM
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National records tumbling as France set a marker

Ireland performed creditably on debut before the home quartet blew their time out of the water, roared on by a home crowd.

France were bronze medallists at the 2022 World Championships held on this very track and a ride like that will put them in podium contention again. Another national record shattered. The standings so far:

1. France 4:08.797
2. Canada 4:12.205
3. Ireland 4:12.447
4. Japan 4:13.818

France set a tough standard for their rivals in the Olympic women’s team pursuit qualifying.


Credit: Reuters/Agustin Marcarian


4:45PM
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Quite the light show to get the crowd going for the racing

Lights, cameras, action.


Credit: Getty Images/Jared C. Tilton


4:38PM
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Japan get the racing underway in women’s team pursuit qualifying

They’re the first of the ten nations, setting a time of 4:13.818. 

I do feel the team pursuit loses a little relatability by having competitors’ faces shrouded in aerodynamic helmets and reflective visors. You can’t see suffering, you can barely even see facial expressions or recognise the respective athletes on the front of the quartet. Of course, it’s a necessary sacrifice for speed and aerodynamics.

4:34PM
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No target times set for team sprinters in Paris

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After the excitement of the women’s team sprint last night, it’s the men’s turn tonight. I think it’s fair to say GB aren’t the favourites. The Netherlands posted an Olympic record last night which was 0.6sec quicker than GB managed (in second place). We could see the British trio of Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin go quicker tonight, but it feels as if gold might be out of reach unless the Dutch make a mistake. We’ll see.

I went up and spoke to the sprint squad in Manchester a few weeks ago^[52] and it was fascinating to see how they are progressing under coach Jason Kenny. If some of Kenny’s stardust can rub off on them – he was famous for peaking for Olympics – then who knows?

One of the things they told me was that they haven’t set any target times for themselves for this Games, which is a departure from previous Olympic cycles. “I hate doing targets,” Kenny told me. “What if you win a race, but don’t hit your time. Have we failed? On the flip side, what if you have finished 20th but you’ve hit your time. Have you succeeded? I just think, try to maximise every minute between now and then and see where that leaves us.”

4:24PM
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Ever wondered how an average Joe (or Tom) measures up against Team GB’s sprinters?

Well, wonder no more. 

Our own Tom Cary brought his Lycra and while going behind the scenes with the sprinters and their secret weapon, Sir Jason Kenny, he went head-to-head on a WattBike. Let’s just say he won’t be troubling the selectors for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles^[54]…

However, it’s a fascinating insight into their world of marginal gains, how they train and how the sprint event has evolved over the last 16 years.

No pain, no gain for Tom


Credit: Roger Moody


4:10PM
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What is the team pursuit?

Ten nations line up for qualifying in the women’s event this afternoon. Four riders set off from a standing start, aiming to set the fastest time over 16 laps of the track, a total distance of 4,000 metres.

Only three need to finish; the time is taken on the third man. It’s not just about aerodynamics and pure speed, bent into a tuck, it’s also about working cohesively while at the absolute physical limit and a few centimetres from your team-mate’s back wheel. Easier said than done.

The event takes place across three rounds – qualifying, with the eight fastest going through to the first round. That will pit the first fastest qualifier against fourth, second against third, fifth against eighth and sixth against seventh in heats. The heat winners with the two fastest times will race for gold.

What is the team sprint?

Each competing nation has three sprinters. They take off from a standing start, with each rider riding as hard as possible for a 250-metre lap before the final rider makes a mad dash for the line. The fastest team wins. 

Over in 42 seconds or so, it’s all about power, delivery of the next rider, drag, efficiency, strength-to-weight. As the sprinters strain and put maximum power through the pedals, their cutting-edge material needs to stand up to the challenge too.

The event takes place across three rounds – qualifying for seeding purposes, first round (which pits first fastest qualifier against eighth, second against seventh, third against sixth and fourth versus fifth) and medal finals. The two fastest teams from that first round will subsequently race for gold, while the third and fourth-fastest teams will race for bronze.

The Netherlands set the men’s world record of 41.225 seconds back in 2020. Given that they clocked 41.279 seconds in qualifying yesterday, they could easily better that mark tonight.

Dutch dynamite on the track.


Credit: Getty Images/BSR Agency


3:59PM
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Day two in the velodrome – preview

Good afternoon and welcome to our rolling coverage of the Olympic track cycling.

Team GB got off to a stonking start in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome yesterday, as the team sprint trio of Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane won gold, setting a world record in qualifying, first round and the final.

“Getting gold on the first night gives us all momentum,” Finucane said afterwards. “This gives us all a lot of confidence for the rest of the week.”

It’s a tough act to follow for their male counterparts Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin. Having finished second in men’s team sprint qualifying yesterday, they race in the first round at around 18:00 BST. The strapping trio have got a strong chance of posting one of the two fastest times to make the gold medal final (19:10), which ends the day’s racing. 

However, it will take a peerless performance or a mistake from their rivals to go quicker than the dominant Dutch, who went 0.587 seconds faster than them yesterday. Their P3, reigning world champion Harrie Lavreysen, is a force to be reckoned with, who bestrides the men’s sprint events.

You can tell Jack Carlin liked Team GB’s team sprint qualifying ride yesterday.


Credit: PA/David Davies

The evening’s first action on the track is the women’s team pursuit qualifying at 16:30 BST. Team GB go off second to last, ninth of the ten competing nations.

Josie Knight, Anna Morris, Elinor Barker and Jess Roberts will line up for Team GB. Team USA, with fearsome competitor Chloe Dygert and road race gold medallist Kristen Faulkner, will push them close. Then there’s the threat of defending champions Germany, who set the world record of 4.04.242 at Tokyo 2020.

Let’s see whether GB feel the absence of long-time talisman Katie Archibald. She was ruled out of the Olympics after a freak garden accident in June^[57], breaking two bones in her leg tripping over a garden step. 

The men’s team pursuit’s first round is at 18:14 BST. Having finished second in qualifying, Team GB’s quartet are likely lads for the gold medal final tomorrow, going less than 0.3 seconds slower than pace-setters Australia. Denmark and Italy will be snapping at their heels (or should that be wheels?) too.

Ethan Hayter, Ollie Wood, Dan Bigham and Ethan Vernon, Team GB’s speedy quartet in qualifying.


Credit: AFP/Sebastien Bozon

References

1. ^{^} #BBCOlympics (twitter.com)
2. ^{^} #Olympics (twitter.com)
3. ^{^} #Paris2024 (twitter.com)
4. ^{^} pic.twitter.com/Ph7VXasUVy (t.co)
5. ^{^} August 6, 2024 (twitter.com)
6. ^{^} 7:38PM (www.telegraph.co.uk)
7. ^{^} 7:34PM (www.telegraph.co.uk)
8. ^{^} 7:26PM (www.telegraph.co.uk)
9. ^{^} 7:22PM (www.telegraph.co.uk)
10. ^{^} 7:19PM (www.telegraph.co.uk)
11. ^{^} 7:13PM (www.telegraph.co.uk)
12. ^{^} #BBCOlympics (twitter.com)
13. ^{^} #Olympics (twitter.com)
14. ^{^} #Paris2024 (twitter.com)
15. ^{^} pic.twitter.com/Ph7VXasUVy (t.co)
16. ^{^} August 6, 2024 (twitter.com)
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41. ^{^} August 6, 2024 (twitter.com)
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52. ^{^} I went up and spoke to the sprint squad in Manchester a few weeks ago (www.telegraph.co.uk)
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54. ^{^} Let’s just say he won’t be troubling the selectors for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles (www.telegraph.co.uk)
55. ^{^} 4:10PM (www.telegraph.co.uk)
56. ^{^} 3:59PM (www.telegraph.co.uk)
57. ^{^} freak garden accident in June (www.telegraph.co.uk)