Sprinters bring US Pan Am medals to five

Two sprinters brought the USA's Pan American Games medal tally in cycling to five on Wednesday morning. Ben Barczewski and Andy Lakatosh, both of Pennsylvania, earned the silver and bronze medals respectively in the men's sprint competition.

In Monday's 200-meter qualification round, Lakatosh earned a fourth placed seed with his posted a time of 11.040 seconds, while Barczewski clocked an 11.250 for the tenth. In the 1/8 final, Barczewski took the win after Venezuelan Canelon Hersony was disqualified, while Lakatosh overtook Cuban Yusnier Alvarez to advance to the quarterfinals. Both advanced to the semifinals, which took place Tuesday.

In the semifinal, Lakatosh was matched against top-seeded Cuban Julio Cesar Herrera while Barczewski would take on Colombian national champion Hernan Sanchez Castillo.

After two straight victories against Castillo, Barczewski advanced to the gold medal final where lost two close rides to Herrera. Lakatosh was matched against Castillo in the bronze medal round, and recovered from a crash he suffered in the semifinals to beat the Colombian in two straight rides to secure the bronze - the fifth medal for the USA Cycling Team in Brazil.

"It is great competing at Pan Ams. This is a good prep for the Olympic Games," Barczewski said during the sprint competition. "It is a real team atmosphere here and it is great to have the entire Team USA behind you."

The silver and bronze added to the gold and silver medals earned by Adam Craig and Mary McConneloug in the men's and women's mountain bike competition and the gold medal earned by Jason Richardson in the men's BMX contest.