Great Britain sweep opening night of track cycling with new Olympic and World Records

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Great Britain have been a dominant force on the track at the Olympic Games in recent years, and that showed no sign of abating on the opening day of competition in Rio. As was the case in London four years ago and in Beijing in 2008, the men's team sprinters got things off to the perfect start, winning the first gold medal on offer. In both of those Games, GB went on to win seven of the ten gold medals, and both pursuit teams gave reason to believe there could be another sizeable haul here as the women's quartet qualified with a World Record time and Bradley Wiggins and co progressed with what was comfortably the strongest time of the men's field. 

GB set Olympic Record to take team sprint Gold

For the third Olympic Games in a row, Great Britain won the first gold medal on offer in the men's team sprint, with Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner breaking the Olympic record twice en route to victory. 

The trio set a record time of 42.562 over the 750m (3 laps) in the qualifying round to signal their intent, though they faced stiff competition from New Zealand as Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Edward Dawkins finished 0.111 in arrears. Australia, with sprinters Nathan Hart, Matthew Glaetzer and Patrick Constable, ended the opening qualifier in third place, 0.596 back with a time of 42.158.

France and Australia won their subsequent heats to contest the bronze medal, with the French coming from behind to take it thanks to a strong last lap from Michael d'Almeida. As expected, GB and New Zealand won their heats, with the Kiwis breaking the Olympic Record (with 42.535) that had just been set by the Brits to set up a mouthwatering final. 

In the final Hindes rode a 17-second opening lap for the Brits and it was nail-bitingly tight for the next lap. In the end it was down to GB's man 3, Callum Skinner, who has faced doubts over his performances in the build-up to these Games, to overcome the pressure and produce the ride of his life to secure gold by just over one-tenth of a second - a new Olympic Record at 42.440.

"That was unbelievable. I know what it feels like to be in Callum Skinner's position and he dealt with it in great fashion," said six-time Olympic champion Chris Hoy. "He's worked so hard to win his place in the team - he did that and there were all kinds of doubters. Psychology made the difference in that final. Of the two teams it was a case of who could hold their nerve. And Great Britain had that belief.

"I don't want to say anything in case I jinx it, but that could be the start of three golds," he said of Kenny, who, if so, would equal Hoy's gold-medal count after winning two golds at London 2012 and one in Beijing. "He really looks in great form now and he has to be a favourite for the sprint. The keirin is a bit of a lottery but he has to be in with a shout."

Great Britain set World Record in women's team pursuit qualifying

Great Britain's women's team pursuit won the qualifying round of their event during track's opening night at the Olympic Games, establishing themselves as the favourites for gold with a World Record time.

The team of Katie Archibald, Laura Trott, Elinor Barker, Joanna Roswell-Shand raced their way to a 4:13.260, which was just over a second quicker than the USA, whose quartet of Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente looked more ragged than they had when they dominated the World Championships in March. Australia, who crashed heavily in training earlier this week, qualified third, 5.799 seconds slower than GB, with a team that includes Georgia Baker, Annette Edmondson, Amy Cure and Melissa Hoskins.

Wiggins and Co. set fastest time in men's team pursuit qualifying round

In the men's team pursuit races, the British team led by Bradley Wiggins easily outpaced their competition to set the standard in the qualifying round at 3:51.943. Team GB beat surprise package Denmark by more than three seconds at 3.453, while Australia, who beat GB to become world champions in March, were 3.663 seconds back.

New Zealand was fourth fastest, 4.034 seconds behind the winners, while Italy claimed the fifth spot at 7.765. Germany and Switzerland finished sixth and seventh, respectively, and will move on to the next round.

Netherlands looked to be on target to make the qualifying cut, but a crash near the end of their run put an end to any medal hopes the Dutch may have had. Instead, China claimed the eighth-and-final spot and will move on.

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