The first Cycling gold medal in the Velodrome went to Great Britain as they edged past New Zealand to take the Men’s Team Sprint title at Rio 2016.
Despite not having won a medal at world stage since the London 2012 Olympics, the British trio of Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner set a new Olympic Record to edge out Ed Dawkins, Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell of New Zealand.
In the bronze medal race held before, the French trio of Francois Pervis, Gregory Bauge and Michael D’Almeida beat the Australian trio of Matthew Glaetzer, Nathan Hart and Patrick Constable to secure a third place finish.
Bronze medal race: France comes from behind to pip Australia
The battle for bronze could not have been much tighter, with the French team coming from behind to edge past the Australians in the narrowest of margins.
The Australians lead from the start and at the 250 and 500-meter stages, though with each time check the French team were getting closer.
In the end, it was Pervis who secured the victory on his final leg, making up the gap and securing victory in a time of 43.14 seconds; just 0.15 seconds ahead of the time Australia recorded.
Gold medal race: Skinner brings it home for GB
Just like the bronze medal race minutes before it was eventual runners-up, New Zealand, who got off to the better start.
The New Zealand trio was ahead at the 250 metres mark, but Kenny led the Brits into the slight lead with one lap to go and Skinner, making his Olympic debut, held on to take the title in an Olympic Record of 42.44 seconds; just 0.1 seconds ahead of the Kiwis.
The victory for the British is pretty remarkable in more than one way. Not only is it a third consecutive Olympic title for the British, it’s also their first medal at a major meet in this event since London 2012 after disappointing results in the World championships since then.
It is the first Olympic gold medal for Skinner, the second for Hindes and the fourth for Kenny, who is targeting two more gold medals this Olympics.