The U.S. squad of Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente started fast, more than a second faster than Great Britain after the first kilometer, but were slowly wound back by a GB team that finished fast. Defending champion Andy Murray overcame the surprise of losing eight successive games to defeat world No40 Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
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“There was a lot of pressure going into London as world champions, world record holders and it being our home event”.
“But New Zealand came back and us and it was a big test so we went in on the track in the final with nothing to lose and luckily it was enough”. We just went into the final with nothing to lose. He formed his own road team so that he could pick and choose specific events for his training, and spent long hours in the velodrome as the team perfected its technique.
The 237.5km route greatly affected Team GB in the men’s race. You’ve got someone to share it with. “It’s just incredible. There was no better way to win it”, he beamed.
“And I just thought “I don’t want to think about this but this would be a really nice achievement if I could do that”. It’s a good first day on the velodrome”, – Kenny said after becoming a four-time gold medallist. GB had to come from behind in the men’s team sprint, just edging New Zealand.
He is now tied with Hoy with seven medals – four gold, a silver and two bronze.
“We’ve been losing out on so many world titles, so to win the Olympics again is just awesome”.
New Zealand’s Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Ed Dawkins, the world champions, had to settle for silver in 42.542secs, just 0.102 behind.
France’s Gregory Bauge, Francois Pervis and Michael D’Almeida took bronze by beating Australia.
They came from nowhere to triumph four years ago in London, as Sir Chris Hoy claimed the fifth of his six Olympic golds, and repeated the trick in Rio after finishing a lowly sixth at March’s Track World Championships in the English capital.
After helping Britain win the team sprint Thursday, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner squeaked past their opponents in the opening round of the individual sprint competition Friday night.
James, whose boyfriend is Wales and British and Irish Lions rugby player George North, has been beset by illness and injury since her double world title win in Minsk, suffering a cancer scare and a knee injury which left her unable to ride a bike for fourth months.
Great Britain’s Katie Archibald, Laura Trott, Elinor Barker, and Joanna Rowsell-Shand teamed up to beat the world record mark set by Australia in February 2015, clocking a 4:13.260.
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Earlier in the day rower Katherine Grainger became the country’s most successful woman Olympian after claiming a silver medal with her partner Victoria Thornley.
