For the first night so far in the London Olympic velodrome, host nation Great Britain missed out on the one gold medal to be awarded. The men’s Omnium went to 20-year-old Lasse Norman Hansen of Denmark, despite being the only rider to crash in the Scratch Race during the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the men’s Sprint competition continued with the favourites making their way into the semi-final stages, while the women’s competition got under way with the big names also going through.
Lasse Norman Handen takes men’s Omnium thriller
The day began with France’s Bryan Coquard in the lead, but things were to change very quickly. Australia’s World champion Glenn O’Shea retook the top spot with third place in the Individual Pursuit, with a time of 4:24.811. He was four seconds slower than Denmark’s Hansen however, who managed 4:20.674 to take victory in the event. Great Britain’s Ed Clancy, racing on the opposite side of the track to O’Shea pushed the Danish rider close, but had to settle for second, with 4:20.853.
O’Shea’s new leading total of 17 was just two points clear of Clancy and Hansen on 19 however; Italy’s Elia Viviani was on 20, and overnight leader Bryan Coquard of France was on 22 with two events to go.
New Zealand’s Shane Archbold had posted the fastest time at one kilometre - as the first rider to go below 1:10 - but suffered a rear wheel puncture towards the end of the second kilometre. The Kiwi was allowed to ride again but, having already ridden half the distance, and having nobody on the other side of the track this time, he could only manage sixth.
An attacking Scratch Race - taken by Canada’s Zach Bell, ahead of Spain’s Eloy Teruel and France’s Bryan Coquard - saw Hansen, Italy’s Elia Viviani and Coquard take the joint lead as nine riders managed to lap the field; Hansen managed to do it alone, having recently come down in a crash.
Clancy’s time of 1:00.981 was a personal best for the British rider, and was always going to be good enough to win, but he needed those above him in the standings to go much slower and finish down the order. Hansen’s time of 1:02.314 was good enough for second place however, which gave the Danish rider the gold medal; O’Shea was third with 1:02.513, while Coquard was fourth with 1:03.078. This meant that the French rider took the silver medal, ahead of Clancy in bronze.
Results men’s Omnium
Individual Pursuit
1. Norman Lasse Hansen (Denmark)
2. Ed Clancy (Great Britain)
3. Glenn O’Shea (Australia)
4. Juan Esteban Arango (Colombia)
5. Roger Kluge (Germany)
Scratch Race
1. Zach Bell (Canada)
2. Eloy Teruel (Spain)
3. Bryan Coquard (France)
4. Roger Kluge (Germany)
5. Elia Viviani (Italy)
Kilometre Time Trial
1. Ed Clancy (Great Britain)
2. Norman Lasse Hansen (Denmark)
3. Glenn O’Shea (Australia)
4. Bryan Coquard (France)
5. Roger Kluge (Germany)
Final overall standings
1. Norman Lasse Hansen (Denmark) 27pts
2. Bryan Coquard (France) 29
3. Ed Clancy (Great Britain) 30
4. Roger Kluge (Germany) 33
5. Glenn O’Shea (Australia) 34
The favourites progress as the women’s Sprint begins
The qualification round of the women’s Sprint set up a possible gold medal battle between Great Britain’s defending World and Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton and her big rival Anna Meares of Australia, as the two posted the fastest times. Pendleton, setting off third to last, broke the Olympic record, and went faster than Meare’s former World record time, to post 10.724; just eight-hundredths shy of the new mark set by Germany’s Miriam Welte in June. Meares herself set off last and was only another 10.805 - which was only just shy of her own former record - to ensure that both should avoid one another until the gold medal race.
Both riders cruised through their first round heats, along with Guo Shuang of China, Kristina Vogel of Germany, Olga Panarina of Belarus, Lisandra Guerra of Cuba, Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong, Simona Krupekaite of Lithuania, and Lyubov Shulika of the Ukriane. New Zealand’s Natasha Hansen, Canada’s Monique Sullivan and the Netherlands’ Willy Kanis went through from the repechages to complete the 1/8 final draw.
Pendleton breezed past Kanis, while Meares gently cruised around the final lap to hold off Sullivan. Guo also managed to get past Hansen without much trouble, while the races that saw Vogel, Krupekaite and Guerra go through were much closer. Shulika and Panarina took the second chance from the two three-way repechage races to advance into the next day’s quarter finals.
Women’s sprint quarter-final draw
Heat 1
Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)
Olga Panarina (Belarus)
Heat 2
Anna Meares (Australia)
Lyubov Shulika (Ukriane)
Heat 3
Guo Shuang (China)
Lisandra Guerra (Cuba)
Heat 4
Kristina Vogel (Germany)
Simona Krupekaite (Lithuania)
The cream rises to the top in the men’s Sprint
Gold medal favourites Jason Kenny of Great Britain and Grégory Baugé of France both made short work of the respective challenges of Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia and Robert Forstemann respectively; taking just two races each to advance into the semi-finals.
Australia’s Shane Perkins also took just two races to see off the United States’ Jimmy Watkins, as did Njisane Phillip of Trinidad and Tobago, despite being pushed very close by Russia’s Denis Dmitriev.
Kenny would face Phillip, and Baugé would face Perkins in the following day’s semi-finals, while Dmitriev won the four-way race for fifth place.
Men’s sprint semi-final draw
Race 1
Jason Kenny (Great Britain)
Njisane Phillip (Trinidad & Tobago)
Race 2
Grégory Baugé (France)
Shane Perkins (Australia)
Result 5th to 8th place final
5. Denis Dmitriev (Russia)
6. Jimmy Watkins (United States)
7. Robert Forstemann (Germany)
8. Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia)