Cycling: Australia win men's Olympic team pursuit gold

Australia powered to their first men's Olympic team pursuit gold medal since 2004 on Wednesday to deny fierce track rivals Britain.

AFP , Wednesday 7 Aug 2024,

Oliver Bleddyn
(From L) Australia's Conor Leahy, Australia's Oliver Bleddyn, Australia's Sam Welsford and Australia's Kelland O'brien pose after winning the men's track cycling team pursuit final for gold of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, south-west of Paris, on August 7, 2024. AFP

 

Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O'Brien surged round 16 laps of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome in 3mins 42.067sec, more than a second clear of the chasing British pack.

Defending Olympic champions Italy beat world champions Denmark in the bronze medal race of the most prestigious event of the track cycling programme.

Australia shattered Italy's world record in qualifying on Tuesday to signal their intent to better the bronze they won in Tokyo and win a first men's pursuit title since the Athens Olympics.

Powerhouse Britain own the most Olympic medals in men's team pursuit with 16, taking gold at Beijing, London and Rio.

But they had to rebuild after the retirement of Bradley Wiggins and Ed Clancy and slumped to seventh in Tokyo three years ago.

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