Olympic Cycling 2016: Men's Track Team Sprint Medal Winners, Results and Times
Great Britain won the men's cycling track team sprint gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as they shocked New Zealand at the Olympic Velodrome on Thursday.
Philip Hindes produced a blistering opening lap for Team GB before Jason Kenny flew around on the second lap, leaving Callum Skinner with the opportunity to lead the Brits home despite being underdogs for the top spot.
France claimed the bronze medal after defeating Australia on the line in a close finish in the race for the third spot on the rostrum.
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The win gave Kenny his fourth Olympic gold medal of his career as the Brits posted a new Olympic record of 42.440 seconds.
Here is confirmation of the sprint medal race results for gold and bronze:
| Gold | Great Britain | 42.440 |
| Silver | New Zealand | 42.542 |
| Bronze | France | 43.143 |
| 4th Place | Australia | 43.298 |
Team GB Retain Sprint Gold
The British shocked the cycling world by defeating hot favourite New Zealand at the Rio Games as they retained the title they won at the 2012 London Games.
The race was tight from start to finish, but a flying lap from Hindes set the winners on their way to a glorious victory.
Kenny maintained his streak of gold medals as he led his team on the second lap, leaving the 23-year-old Scottish cyclist to produce the lap of his life to break New Zealand's hearts.
Journalist Michael Hutchinson highlighted Skinner's amazing effort:
Earlier in proceedings, New Zealand powered through the heats with a new Olympic record as they eliminated Germany with a devastating and ruthless ride.
New Zealand posted a new Olympic best of 42.535 seconds as the Germans laboured almost a second behind Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Edward Dawkins.
Team GB posted a time of 42.640 seconds as they cruised past Venezuela to make the final. The British had opened the first round of qualifying with a new Olympic record of 42.562 seconds before New Zealand topped their mark against Germany.
Strong qualifying times for France and Australia gave the two nations the right to contest each other for the bronze medal, with the Europeans coming out on top.
Team GB were not expected to prevail in Rio despite winning the team sprint in London and entering the competition as the reigning champions. They have underperformed on the world circuit in the past four years but ripped the form book up to beat the best track sprint nation at the Games.
Hindes is the best leadoff man in the world, and he again proved his dominance against the New Zealanders. Kenny has further opportunities to increase his medal haul in Rio, but fans will always remember the last lap by Skinner, who beat world-class opposition as he excelled and sprinted home.
Team GB had not won a major team sprint meeting since prevailing at the last Olympics, but their win bucked the trend of recent performances.
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