The Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome outside Paris is considered to be a fast track, but a perfect storm of low barometric pressure, high temperatures and humidity and the intensity of the 2024 Olympic Games competition sent the world records plummeting on Monday.
Since the women are only three years into having a three-rider, 750-metre team sprint and the first Olympics in the new format, the record was expected to be challenged. However, by the end of the night, Great Britain’s trio had slashed the new world record to a stunning 45.186 en route to the gold medal.
The world record held by China coming into the games was broken no fewer than five times over the course of the three rounds of racing, in a display of speed, strategy and power like nothing before.
Emma Finucane, part of the British gold medal-winning team, said the accomplishment was “100% a big statement by the women sprinters. It has been a long time coming.”
In qualifying round, Great Britain’s Katy Marchant, Finucane, and Sophie Capewell were the first to break China’s world record set in June, chipping 0.01 seconds off the record with a 45.472.
The British record soon fell, however, when the defending Olympic champions from Germany knocked a massive 0.095 seconds off. Pauline Grabosch, Emma Hinze and Lea Friedrich set a time of 45.377.
Shockingly, their result would only qualify the team for the bronze medal round, because in the very next heat, New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews, Shaane Fulton, Rebecca Petch went 0.029 quicker at 45.348.
Not to be undone, the British team thrilled the packed house in the next heat, chipping 0.01 second off the mark just set by the Kiwis with a 45.338.
“I think in the Olympic Games everyone comes here on the top form. We expected world records to be broken and we’re just very excited and very proud that our one of our rides was a world record,” Andrews said after taking home the silver medal in the finals.
In two rounds of racing, the record had dropped a whopping 0.144 seconds off of the previous record with the finals still to come.
Great Britain moved on to the gold medal round to face New Zealand, where they further shattered the pre-existing mark becoming the new Olympic champions and record holders with a 45.186.
Grabosch spoke for the defending champions calling the five world records “insane”.
“We can say ‘girl power’. That’s actually the best definition for this evening. Everybody who broke the world record – we were very, very quick. Not even the boys were that close in the first round to their world record. So we raised the level of female cycling really high and we can be all very, very proud of our performances.”
When asked about the women finally racing the same distance as their male counterparts, Capewell smiled. “I think the sport has progressed so much that women and men aren’t seen as different it’s the fact that it’s equal now and seen as equal is really, really cool.
“As Pauline said, ‘girl power’. I think that this is also just a start. There’s been a lot of progression quick with women sprinting, especially as we’ve changed the discipline to three riders again.
“I think that will just continue over the next few years. Whilst the sport has changed a little bit for us because we will now be training slightly longer distances, the fact that it’s equal I think is very special. And I think we’re just gonna see a lot of women going from strength to strength.”
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