PARIS, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Australia took the gold medal in the men's team pursuit race after their victory over Britain at Paris 2024 here on Wednesday.
Australia's quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O'Brien, who had set a new world record of 3:40.730 on Tuesday, ended the final race in 3:42.067, while Team GB, comprising Ethan Hayter, Oliver Wood, Charlie Tanfield and Ethan Vernon finished in 3:44.394.
The quartets were neck and neck with only 0.150s between them as they went into the last lap, but a touch of wheels saw Hayter forced to slow down, ensuring gold went to Australia.
The Italian quartet, which included Felippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan, produced a strong second half to claim bronze.
Reigning world champions and Tokyo 2020 silver medalists Denmark looked to be in control with a lead of over a second, but they fell spectacularly apart as Milan and Ganna, who took silver in the road time trial, kept their discipline and powered Italy to a medal.
The team pursuit sees teams of four riders start of opposite sides of the 250-meter track before completing 16 laps as quickly as possible. It is a test of strength, speed and organization, as it is vital for riders to stay as close as possible to each other to cut down on wind resistance. ■
微信扫描下方的二维码阅读本文
