Rio de Janeiro: Forget Zika and security anxieties, for Anna Meares, Australian cyclist supreme, Olympics team captain and hardwired competitive beast, this was the biggest risk in coming to Rio.
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The 24-year-old cyclist claimed silver in the women’s keirin final at the Rio Olympics on Saturday.
The victory also saw Wiggins become Great Britain’s most decorated Olympian of all time, increasing his medal tally to eight.
After being ninth fastest in the 200 metre flying sprint opening round – the 18 fastest win the right to progress from there and Meares’ understudy Stephanie Morton was among them – she was soundly beaten in her head-to-head with Krupeckaite in a ride that genuinely stunned seasoned observers at the track.
“How nice is that, that people give me that support”.
“It nearly feels like I shouldn’t have achieved it in a way”. “Once that was done I was able to continue to build the strength in the gym with exercises that suit an older body that feels the wear and tear more than a younger body”.
Britain’s women won a third gold in the four-rider, four-kilometres team pursuit, a day after the men won the corresponding event.
Ligtlee took control shortly after the Derny left the track and never looked like being caught, staying strong to secure her first Olympic title.
The United States, the world champions, were a distant second.
It was Rowsell-Shand’s second gold.
“In that final I was just thinking when do I go and I had so much speed in that last burst and I don’t know where it came from”.
“We’ve gone into it with our work cut out to beat the rest of the world”. Australia’s Anna Meares ended up with bronze.
“Obviously my knee injury and cancer scare was a really bad time for me and it went on for a long time, ‘ she told Wales Online earlier this year”.
She was bidding to emulate Victoria Pendleton as champion, the Briton having won at London 2012, and began the final lap in sixth and last place. In that unforgettable winner-takes-all final sprint before a one-eyed London crowd, she drew, then held, Pendleton at the top of an embankment for what felt – even to mere witnesses – an excruciatingly long time.
It was a pretty frustrating race. “I knew my sprinting was going to be the hardest part for me in these Games, but I didn’t expect to be that far out of the competition”, she added.
“It was weird because I was trying to be patient but I didn’t really know when to go because I didn’t want to go too hard, too soon and get stuck on the outside”. “She’s so kind and she’s been so wonderful for me”, Meares said.
The best-of-three final and bronze medal ride-off conclude the sprint on Sunday.
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Kenny needed all three bouts to beat Denis Dmitriev of Russian Federation 2-1, while Skinner beat Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer 2-0 to advance.
