Olympic Cycling 2016: Track Medal Winners and Times After Saturday's Results
Great Britain set yet another world record to win the women's team pursuit event in track cycling during Saturday's 2016 Summer Olympics action, beating the United States by more than two seconds.
Joanna Rowsell Shand, Laura Trott, Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker were the favourites entering the final, and they more than lived up to that name, dominating the American team from start to finish.
In the women's keirin, Britain's Becky James took the silver medal, as she just failed to overtake Elis Ligtlee of the Netherlands. Anna Meares of Australia finished third.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Here's a look at Saturday's medal winners, complete with their finishing times:
| Great Britain | USA | Canada | |
| Time | 4:10.236 | 4:12.454 | 4:14.627 |
| Elis Ligtlee (NED) | Rebecca James (GBR) | Anna Meares (AUS) | |
| Time | 11.217 | +0.033 | +0.038 |
Recap
The keirin is one of the most exciting events in cycling and always draws huge crowds for its sheer madness and the high spectacle value. BBC Sport's Dan Walker tuned in, and he was rather jealous of the pace-maker:
Kristina Vogel of Germany, Ligtlee of the Netherlands and Anastasia Vionova of Russia qualified from the first heat, a heat in which Martha Bayona of Colombia took a nasty spill inside the final 200 metres that interrupted the momentum of a few riders.
The race itself was hardly exciting, as Vogel finished well ahead of Ligtlee and Vionova, who both easily beat their opponents.
The second heat was much closer, as Australia's Meares narrowly beat James to the top spot. Liubov Basova of Ukraine qualified with the duo.
British swimmer Jazz Carlin was impressed with her team-mate:
The six finalists were then given a short break, as the team pursuit finalists took to the track to distribute the medals.
Canada cruised to a win over New Zealand for the bronze, beating their opponents by almost four seconds. But all eyes were on the final, where favourites Great Britain took on the United States.
The Brits built an early lead, and with Rowsell Shand powering the team, the gap quickly grew. The U.S. were the first to lose a rider, while Trott, Archibald and Barker further pushed the advantage.
By the end of the race, the British team had their opponents in their sights in the straights, and the final result was never in doubt. Per Cycling Weekly, the four set yet another world record:
Matt Stephens of Global Cycling Network was impressed with both teams:
According to BBC Sport's Stephan Shemilt, Trott was taken aback with the time the team put together, saying: "The feeling we were getting, it was like this machine was coming together. To come away with (a time of) 4.10 was honestly incredible."
The keirin final followed soon after, and after a slow start, the race heated up in the final laps. James sat on Meares' wheel for the bulk of the race, following the pace of the favourite. She entered the final lap in fifth place.
Her final sprint was impressive, but she left it just too late and ran out of track before she could overtake Ligtlee. She did enough to hold off Meares, however, taking the silver medal and adding to Britain's sublime record on the track.
Ligtlee was the big winner of the final, though, taking her first Olympic gold. The 22-year-old is seen as one of the biggest talents in the sport and has found success early in both the sprint and the keirin, so the sky appears to be the limit.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
