Britain tops quick team pursuit qualifier

It’s landed just one gold medal thus far, but the Great Britain is very much in the hunt for another this evening after it went quickest in the qualifying round of the team pursuit.

The quartet of Stephen Burke, Ed Clancy, Ben Swift and Andrew Tennant scorched around the track in a time of 3 minutes 56.869 seconds. This was over a second faster than second-placed Australia, who Team GB will meet in this evening’s gold medal final.

New Zealand and Denmark were third and fourth, clocking times of 3.58.616 and 4.02.259. The latter started last and was initially on the fastest pace, beating Britain. However the riders cracked and slipped behind, perhaps getting carried away with a very vocal home support.

These two teams will square up in the bronze medal fight this evening, while the Ukraine and Netherlands complete the top six.

Kanis out in 1/8 finals, other favourites go through

There were few surprises in the opening three rounds of the women’s sprint, although the non-progression of regular World Cup medallist Willy Kanis (Netherlands) was a little unexpected. She was fifth-fastest in the qualifying time trial and progressed through the 1/16 final by beating Sandy Clair (France), but then lost out to Kaarle McCulloch (Australia).

Kanis went up against another surprising omission in the repechage, Olga Panarina (Belarussia). She had qualified third-quickest, only to lose out to Victoria Baranova (Russia) in her 1/8 heat. Kanis led Panarina and Virginie Cueff (France) onto the final lap, but was easily passed by the Belorussian.

Kristina Vogel (Germany) won the other repechage, leading out and holding off Clara Sanchez (France) and Lyubov Shulika (Ukraine).

Earlier, six riders went through by the conventional route; in other words, by winning their 1/16 and 1/8 finals. Defending champion Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) only qualified seventh fastest, but beat compatriot Jess Varnish easily. She had a tighter tussle with Sanchez, who came back at her after Pendleton jumped first, but managed to hit the line ahead.

Past silver and bronze medallist Shuang Guo (China) beat Vogel in heat one of the 1/8 finals. Anna Meares (Australia) led out Cueff and fended her off; Baranova was two lengths behind Panarina at the bell but got by, and Simona Krupeckaite (Lituania) jumped early to beat Shulika.

McCullough’s win over Kanis was a straightforward one, while Pendleton had to battle much harder to get by Sanchez. That will give her rivals hope that the four-time world champion is less bulletproof than before.

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Men's Team Pursuit - Qualifying
1Great Britain0:03:56.869
Row 1 - Cell 0 Steven BurkeRow 1 - Cell 2
Row 2 - Cell 0 Edward ClancyRow 2 - Cell 2
Row 3 - Cell 0 Ben SwiftRow 3 - Cell 2
Row 4 - Cell 0 Andrew TennantRow 4 - Cell 2
2Australia0:03:58.185
Row 6 - Cell 0 Jack BobridgeRow 6 - Cell 2
Row 7 - Cell 0 Rohan DennisRow 7 - Cell 2
Row 8 - Cell 0 Michael HepburnRow 8 - Cell 2
Row 9 - Cell 0 Leigh HowardRow 9 - Cell 2
3New Zealand0:03:58.616
Row 11 - Cell 0 Sam BewleyRow 11 - Cell 2
Row 12 - Cell 0 Westley GoughRow 12 - Cell 2
Row 13 - Cell 0 Peter LathamRow 13 - Cell 2
Row 14 - Cell 0 Jesse SergentRow 14 - Cell 2
4Denmark0:04:02.259
Row 16 - Cell 0 Niki ByrgesenRow 16 - Cell 2
Row 17 - Cell 0 Michael Faerk ChristensenRow 17 - Cell 2
Row 18 - Cell 0 Jens­Erik MadsenRow 18 - Cell 2
Row 19 - Cell 0 Rasmus Christian QuaadeRow 19 - Cell 2
5Ukraine0:04:04.776
Row 21 - Cell 0 Lyubomyr PolataykoRow 21 - Cell 2
Row 22 - Cell 0 Maksym PolischukRow 22 - Cell 2
Row 23 - Cell 0 Vitaliy PopkovRow 23 - Cell 2
Row 24 - Cell 0 Vitaliy ShchedovRow 24 - Cell 2
6Netherlands0:04:04.818
Row 26 - Cell 0 Levi HeimansRow 26 - Cell 2
Row 27 - Cell 0 Arno Van Der ZwetRow 27 - Cell 2
Row 28 - Cell 0 Tim VeldtRow 28 - Cell 2
Row 29 - Cell 0 Sipke ZijlstraRow 29 - Cell 2
7Russia0:04:04.986
Row 31 - Cell 0 Ivan KovalevRow 31 - Cell 2
Row 32 - Cell 0 Victor ManakovRow 32 - Cell 2
Row 33 - Cell 0 Alexei MarkovRow 33 - Cell 2
Row 34 - Cell 0 Alexander SerovRow 34 - Cell 2
8Spain0:04:05.570
Row 36 - Cell 0 Unai Elorriaga ZubiaurRow 36 - Cell 2
Row 37 - Cell 0 Sergi Escobar RoureRow 37 - Cell 2
Row 38 - Cell 0 David Muntaner JuanedaRow 38 - Cell 2
Row 39 - Cell 0 Eloy Teruel RoviraRow 39 - Cell 2
9France0:04:07.051
Row 41 - Cell 0 Vivien BrisseRow 41 - Cell 2
Row 42 - Cell 0 Benoit DaeninckRow 42 - Cell 2
Row 43 - Cell 0 Julien DuvalRow 43 - Cell 2
Row 44 - Cell 0 Julien MoriceRow 44 - Cell 2
10Germany0:04:07.265
Row 46 - Cell 0 Robert BartkoRow 46 - Cell 2
Row 47 - Cell 0 Robert BengschRow 47 - Cell 2
Row 48 - Cell 0 Henning BommelRow 48 - Cell 2
Row 49 - Cell 0 Patrick GretschRow 49 - Cell 2
11Italy0:04:08.512
Row 51 - Cell 0 Angelo CicconeRow 51 - Cell 2
Row 52 - Cell 0 Marco ColedanRow 52 - Cell 2
Row 53 - Cell 0 Alessandro De MarchiRow 53 - Cell 2
Row 54 - Cell 0 Elia VivianiRow 54 - Cell 2
12China0:04:11.872
Row 56 - Cell 0 Pan ChenRow 56 - Cell 2
Row 57 - Cell 0 Xiao JiangRow 57 - Cell 2
Row 58 - Cell 0 Chuanmin LiRow 58 - Cell 2
Row 59 - Cell 0 Jie WangRow 59 - Cell 2
13Ireland0:04:12.136
Row 61 - Cell 0 Stephen BarrettRow 61 - Cell 2
Row 62 - Cell 0 Matthew BrammeierRow 62 - Cell 2
Row 63 - Cell 0 Martyn IrvineRow 63 - Cell 2
Row 64 - Cell 0 David O'LoughlinRow 64 - Cell 2
14Poland0:04:12.481
Row 66 - Cell 0 Pawel BrylowskiRow 66 - Cell 2
Row 67 - Cell 0 Dawid GlowackiRow 67 - Cell 2
Row 68 - Cell 0 Piotr KasperkiewiczRow 68 - Cell 2
Row 69 - Cell 0 Grzegorz StepniakRow 69 - Cell 2
15Switzerland0:04:13.023
Row 71 - Cell 0 Damien CorthesyRow 71 - Cell 2
Row 72 - Cell 0 Silvan DillierRow 72 - Cell 2
Row 73 - Cell 0 Loïc PerizzoloRow 73 - Cell 2
Row 74 - Cell 0 Cyrille ThieryRow 74 - Cell 2
16Greece0:04:14.765
Row 76 - Cell 0 Georgios BouglasRow 76 - Cell 2
Row 77 - Cell 0 Dimitrios ChidemenakisRow 77 - Cell 2
Row 78 - Cell 0 Dimitrios PolydoropoulosRow 78 - Cell 2
Row 79 - Cell 0 Polychronis TzortzakisRow 79 - Cell 2
17Austria0:04:21.370
Row 81 - Cell 0 Andreas GrafRow 81 - Cell 2
Row 82 - Cell 0 Andreas MüllerRow 82 - Cell 2
Row 83 - Cell 0 Werner RiebenbauerRow 83 - Cell 2
Row 84 - Cell 0 Georg TazreiterRow 84 - Cell 2
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Women's Sprint - Qualifying
1Shuang Guo (China)0:00:10.918
2Anna Meares (Australia)0:00:11.030
3Olga Panarina (Belarus)0:00:11.077
4Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)0:00:11.078
5Willy Kanis (Netherlands)0:00:11.105
6Clara Sanchez (France)0:00:11.120
7Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)0:00:11.135
8Kaarle Mcculloch (Australia)0:00:11.202
9Junhong Lin (People's Republic of China)0:00:11.242
10Jinjie Gong (People's Republic of China)0:00:11.250
11Virginie Cueff (France)0:00:11.340
12Kristina Vogel (Germany)0:00:11.356
13Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)0:00:11.385
14Miriam Welte (Germany)0:00:11.408
15Victoria Baranova (Russian Federation)0:00:11.426
16Lyubov Shulika (Ukraine)0:00:11.442
17Emily Rosemond (Australia)0:00:11.444
18Jessica Varnish (Great Britain)0:00:11.464
19Rebecca Angharad James (Great Britain)0:00:11.518
20Sandie Clair (France)0:00:11.559
21Wai Sze Lee (Hong Kong, China)0:00:11.564
22Christin Muche (Germany)0:00:11.571
23Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez (Cuba)0:00:11.600
24Olga Streltsova (Russian Federation)0:00:11.700
25Renata Dabrowska (Poland)0:00:11.922
26Helena Casas Roige (Spain)0:00:11.995
27Gintare Gaivenyte (Lithuania)0:00:12.084
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 1
1Shuang Guo (China)0:00:11.914
2Olga Streltsova (Russian Federation)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 2
1Anna Meares (Australia)0:00:11.682
2Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez (Cuba)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 3
1Olga Panarina (Belarus)0:00:12.114
2Christin Muche (Germany)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 4
1Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)0:00:11.782
2Wai Sze Lee (Hong Kong, China)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 5
1Willy Kanis (Netherlands)0:00:11.418
2Sandie Clair (France)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 6
1Clara Sanchez (France)0:00:11.874
2Rebecca Angharad James (Great Britain)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 7
1Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)0:00:11.794
2Jessica Varnish (Great Britain)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 8
1Kaarle Mcculloch (Australia)0:00:11.577
2Emily Rosemond (Australia)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 9
1Lyubov Shulika (Ukraine)0:00:11.693
2Junhong Lin (People's Republic of China)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 10
1Victoria Baranova (Russian Federation)0:00:11.898
2Jinjie Gong (People's Republic of China)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 11
1Virginie Cueff (France)0:00:11.848
RELMiriam Welte (Germany)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/16 Final Heat 12
1Kristina Vogel (Germany)0:00:11.813
2Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/8 Final Heat 1
1Shuang Guo (China)0:00:11.804
2Kristina Vogel (Germany)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/8 Final Heat 2
1Anna Meares (Australia)0:00:11.717
2Virginie Cueff (France)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/8 Final Heat 3
1Victoria Baranova (Russian Federation)0:00:11.763
2Olga Panarina (Belarus)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/8 Final Heat 4
1Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)0:00:11.660
2Lyubov Shulika (Ukraine)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/8 Final Heat 5
1Kaarle Mcculloch (Australia)0:00:11.536
2Willy Kanis (Netherlands)Row 1 - Cell 2
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Women's 1/8 Final Heat 6
1Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)0:00:11.552
2Clara Sanchez (France)Row 1 - Cell 2

 

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