[ad_1]
British duo Elinor Barker and Neah Evans secured a silver medal in the women’s Madison at the Paris Olympics on Friday night as Italy took gold.
A huge turn from Barker saw the Welsh rider take maximum points in the decisive final sprint which ensured GB jumped ahead of the Netherlands into second place. Barker’s move meant that a silver medal was guaranteed for the British pair, who took the world title at the Glasgow World Championships last summer.
Both Italy and the Netherlands lapped the field at different stages meaning that they were awarded 20 bonus points each. Nevertheless, Barker and Evans both continued to score on a regular basis during the intermediate sprints, held every 10 laps, which kept them in the running throughout.
Despite the Dutch and Italians appearing to have the gold and silver in the bag, Barker’s last ditch powerful final sprint earned GB double points, and saw the British duo leapfrog the Dutch into second.
Barker explained post-race that despite taking another silver medal, the feeling afterwards was bittersweet after both she and Evans had set their sights on gold.
The win marked the Welsh riders second medal of the week after she took bronze in the women’s team pursuit on Wednesday.
“We really, really wanted gold,” she said. “We came in as world champions which obviously meant we put that pressure on ourselves. We had a target on our back potentially.
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
“We said it wouldn’t change the way that we raced but it was hard not to feel like we needed to take responsibility for things at times and perhaps that’s what we’ll pick up in our analysis but also I think – an Olympic medal. There are plenty of world champions this week that haven’t medalled. I think every single medal is a huge achievement.”
“The Dutch and the Italians rode an amazing race,” she added. “Because historically, I think there’s been maybe two races that have been won by lap gains alone. And so we didn’t really plan for that, our last year has been based around how we were going to win as many sprints as possible and as efficiently as possible.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“The attacks were super strong. I actually thought the Dutch might get brought back just by sprints, but they were too strong. I was very impressed by them and then the Italian’s just took the perfect opportunity. We know those riders, we know they’re super strong, but sometimes there’s not a lot you can do to respond. It was very well deserved by them.”
Evans echoed the sentiment of her teammate, but said they would still leave Paris proud with what they had achieved together.
“It’s an Olympic silver medal, of course that’s fantastic,” she said. “As current world champions, we obviously came in with really high expectations. We wanted to win, we felt we were in a really good position and an attack just went that we weren’t 100% prepared for. I thought we responded, but it was then just a different race dynamic.
“We still gave it everything, and I think on reflection we will watch it back and still be so proud of the ride that we did. But obviously when you come for gold, you’re like ‘ah not quite’ but still, it’s a silver medal.”
Jack Carlin edges bronze battle with Jeffrey Hoogland
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jack Carlin secured bronze for GB in the men’s sprint final after seeing off Dutch powerhouse, Jeffrey Hoogland.
Due to the two riders appearing to collide with each other, the final race of three was restarted by the commissaires. Carlin then put in a remarkable display to hold off a flying Hoogland and secure bronze for Great Britain.
The medal marked Carlin’s second of the week after he had been part of the trio that took the silver medal in the men’s team sprint on Tuesday.
After a very slow start, Carlin took the first round by a tenth of a second after speeding past Hoogland in the final straight. Hoogland then got back on terms for the Netherlands in the second round before his fellow countryman, Harrie Lavreysen, held off Matthew Richardson of Australia in the race for gold.
Prior to narrowly avoiding a crash with Hoogland, Carlin had already been placed on a warning by officials and it briefly appeared that the race could be decided by the commissaires.
However, Carlin was given a reprieve and avoided disqualification before he then did enough to beat Hoogland.
Finucane and Capewell through to sprint last eight
Team GB will have two riders in the last eight of the women’s sprint finals.
Both Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell saw off their last 16 competitors with ease in order to progress. Capewell beat Mexico’s Daniela Gaxiola Gonzalez in heat four after Finucane had earlier dispatched the Netherland’s Steffie van der Peet.
Germany’s Lea Friedrich and Ellesse Andrews, the winner of the gold medal in the women’s Keirin on Thursday, also progressed. Reigning Olympic champion Mina Sato also went through alongside Hetty van de Wouw of the Netherlands who completed the final eight.
[ad_2]
Source link