Track Cycling 2016 Rio Review

Men’s Keirin

The heats were fiercely contested, with big names such as Patrick Constable (Australia), Callum Skinner (Great Britain), Eddie Dawkins (New Zealand), Denis Dmitriev (Russia) and Maximilian Levy (Germany) failing to make it through, whilst Francois Pervis (France) and Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) needed the repechages to make it through. Jason Kenny (Great Britain) led home the first semi-final, ahead of Matthijs Buchli (Netherlands) and Awang, whilst Joachim Eilers (Germany) beat Damian Zielinski (Poland) and Fabian Puerta (Colombia) in the second semi-final. The final saw the top five separated by only 0.113, but it was Kenny again leading home his competitors from the semi-final.

🥇Jason Kenny 🇬🇧

🥈Matthijs Buchli 🇳🇱

🥉Azizulhasni Awang 🇲🇾

Men’s Omnium

Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark) took the lead after the scratch race, with Roger Kluge (Germany) the only racer to not be lapped. He continued his great form by setting an Olympic Record in the Individual pursuit ahead of Mark Cavendish (Great Britain). In the elimination race though, he was out first; dropping him to fifth. The lead went to Thomas Boudat (France), who finished second behind Elia Viviani (Italy). The leader's curse then struck Boudat as he finished in tenth in the time trial. It was Dylan Kennett (New Zealand) who won the event, but Viviani jumped into the lead with Cavendish behind him. Kennett also won the next event, the flying lap, moving into the fourth. The three men who finished directly behind him; Viviani, Cavendish and Hansen held the podium spots. All three would maintain their positions in the points race despite a winning effort by Fernando Gaviria (Colombia).

🥇Elia Viviani 🇮🇹

🥈Mark Cavendish 🇬🇧

🥉Lasse Norman Hansen 🇩🇰

Men’s Team Pursuit

A clear top four emerged in qualification, with Great Britain cycling a 3.51.659, over three seconds quicker than any other team. New Zealand, Australia and Denmark were separated by less than a second. In the semis, Great Britain rode a World and Olympic Record, while Australia edged Denmark by 0.113. Denmark won the bronze over New Zealand. In the final Australia rode faster, but it was not enough, as Britain set another Olympic and World Record.

🥇Great Britain 🇬🇧

🥈Australia 🇦🇺

🥉Denmark 🇩🇰

Men’s Sprint

All the big names made their way through qualification and an Olympic Record was set by Callum Skinner (Great Britain). Before qualification was over, that time was destroyed by 0.15 seconds by Jason Kenny (Great Britain). Edward Dawkins (New Zealand) was eliminated by teammate Sam Webster (New Zealand) and joined by Francois Pervis (France). In the following rounds, another set of big names fell as Maximilian Levy (Germany), Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands), Webster and Fabian Puerta (Colombia) were eliminated. All four quarter-finals were decided in two contests as Kenny, Skinner, Matthew Glaetzer (Australia) and Denis Dmitriev (Russia) went through. Kenny lost his first race in the semi but rebounded to qualify where he’d come up against teammate Callum Skinner. Kenny would prove to be the top rider from his team, taking gold.

🥇Jason Kenny 🇬🇧

🥈Callum Skinner 🇬🇧

🥉Denis Dmitriev 🇷🇺

Men’s Team Sprint

A number of strong teams lined up in the competition, making qualification fiercely competitive. Poland, Netherlands and Germany were perhaps disappointed in not making the semi-finals. New Zealand was the fastest, setting an Olympic Record in the semi. In the final though, it went the other way as Great Britain rebounded to set their own Olympic Record.

🥇Great Britain 🇬🇧

🥈New Zealand 🇳🇿

🥉France 🇫🇷

Women’s Keirin

Once again the heats were competitive with Stephanie Morton (Australia) the biggest name to go out. In the semi-finals, Kristina Vogel (Germany) won the first heat ahead of Elis Ligtlee (Netherlands) and Anastasia Voinova (Russia), while Anna Meares (Australia) edged Becky James (Great Britain) and Liubov Basova (Ukraine). In the final, Ligtlee broke ahead with two and a half laps to go and held on. James came flying round the final corner but she run out of space, finishing 0.033 behind Ligtlee.

🥇Elis Ligtlee 🇳🇱

🥈Becky James 🇬🇧

🥉Anna Meares 🇦🇺

Women’s Omnium

Tatsiana Sharakova (Belarus) won the scratch race ahead of Laura Trott (Great Britain) and Jolien D’Hoore (Belgium). Trott won the pursuit event, beating Sarah Hammer (United States) and D’Hoore. It was the same top three in the elimination race, with Trott first ahead of D’Hoore. Annette Edmondson (Australia) won the time trial to improve to fourth. She finished second in the flying lap behind Trott and ahead of Laurie Berthon (France). The points race went to Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark), improving to fifth, with Trott doing enough to win with great consistency.

🥇Laura Trout 🇬🇧

🥈Sarah Hammer 🇺🇸

🥉Jolien D’Hoore 🇧🇪

Women’s Team Pursuit

The qualification showed two clear tiers that would battle for the medals. Great Britain qualified fastest, slightly ahead of the United States, setting a World and Olympic Record. Behind them, Canada and Australia were separated by just over half a second. The semi-finals showed the same tiers, with United States setting a new World and Olympic Record, only for the Great Britain to beat it, going even faster. Britain completed the full house by setting another World and Olympic Record in the final.

🥇Great Britain 🇬🇧

🥈United States of America 🇺🇸

🥉Canada 🇨🇦

Women’s Sprint

Once again, Great Britain had the fastest qualifiers in Becky James (Great Britain) and Katy Marchant (Great Britain). Stephanie Morton (Australia) and Gong Jinjie (China) were both eliminated in the first round, followed by Anna Meares (Australia) being eliminated in round two. Once again, the semi-finals were decided in just two races, although Zhong Tianshi (China) was barely beaten by James. James won her semi-final against Elis Ligtlee (Netherlands) without losing. but Marchant was beaten by Kristina Vogel (Germany). Marchant beat Ligtlee to win bronze, but James was defeated twice by Vogel so only won silver. The two races were so close that the combined time difference was 0.020 seconds.

🥇Kristina Vogel 🇩🇪

🥈Becky James 🇬🇧

🥉Katy Marchant 🇬🇧

Women’s Team Sprint

Given the results of the individual sprint, Great Britain would likely have been among favourites for the Team Sprint, but they had failed to qualify. Five teams separated themselves, but the Netherlands went out in the quarter-final, despite a quicker time than Germany, because they were drawn against Australia. China set an Olympic Record in the first round and then a World Record in the second. Germany edged out Australia by 0.022 to win bronze.

🥇China 🇨🇳

🥈Russia 🇷🇺

🥉Germany 🇩🇪