Olympics: Canada's Kelsey Mitchell wins gold medal in women's Sprint

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Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell won the women’s Sprint at the Tokyo Olympic Games, with the Canadian rider only needing two of the three heats to beat Olena Starikova of the Ukraine and secure gold.

Mitchell, the second fastest qualifier in the event and the world record holder in the flying 200, entered the final lap of both heats on the front. Starikova closed in both times but the Canadian’s impressive turn of speed meant she stayed clear to the line.

“People talk about visualisation a lot in sports, and I don’t know if I did it on purpose, but I could see myself on the podium,” Mitchell said. 

“I decided to go and execute it, so I am super excited to step on that first step.”

Mitchell’s gold medal is only the second for Canada on the track at the Olympics, with the only other coming from Lori-Ann Muenzer in the women’s sprint in 2004.

In the bronze medal competition it was a triumph of tactics, with Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong again only needing two rounds to secure the final medal ahead of Emma Hinze of Germany.

Hinze had looked like the rider to beat in the battle, with the reigning world champion taking Mitchell to three rounds in the semi-final battle. 

However, Lee couldn’t have been more convincing in the first heat, with the rider from Hong Kong launching the sprint early and running away with the win as Hinze decided to conserve for the next run. Lee was again was in control in the second ride, powering past Hinze in the run up to the line to take bronze with one round to spare. 

Quarter and Semi-finals

Kelsey Mitchell (Canada) advanced to the gold medal final of the women's sprint but needed the third-race decider to send Emma Hinze (Germany) to the bronze medal round.

Olena Starikova (Ukraine) beat Lee Wai Sze (Hong Kong) in her semifinal in two races to face Mitchell for the gold.

In the quarterfinal, Mitchell beat fellow Canadian Lauriane Genest 2-0, while Lee beat Great Britain’s Katy Marchant with equally impressive speed and sprinting skills.

Hinze topped women's Keirin gold medalist Shanne Braspennincx (Netherlands) to advance to the semifinals, while Lee knocked out Great Britain's Katy Marchant.

Starikova needed a third race to beat Lea Sophie Friedrich of Germany but used her late surge to win twice to go through to the semifinals, where she will face Lee. Mitchell and Hinze will contest the other semi-final.

Opening up the competition

Twelve riders remain in contention in the women’s sprint at the Tokyo Olympics after the opening day of competition, where Lea Sophie Friedrich (Germany) delivered two assured sprints after setting a new Olympic record in the qualification round.

Friedrich defeated Migle Marozaite (Lithuania) and Madalyn Godby (USA) to qualify for Saturday’s 1/8 finals, where she will meet Anastasiia Voinova (Russian Olympic Committee).

Friedrich’s fellow German Emma Hinze is also safely through to the final twelve, where she will face Zhong Tianshi (China), already a gold medallist in the team sprint. New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews emerged victorious in the repechage and she will take on Kelsey Mitchell (Canada) in the 1/8 finals.

Katy Marchant (Great Britain) showed few ill effects from her crash in the keirin as she qualified to face Lauriane Genest (Canada) in the 1/8 finals, while keirin champion Shanne Braspennincx (Netherlands) will face Olena Starikova (Ukraine), and Mathilde Gros (France) will line up against Lee Wai-Sze (Hong Kong).

Germany's Friedrich fastest women's Sprint qualifier

Germany's Lea Sophie Friedrich qualified in first place for the women's sprint at the  Tokyo Olympic Games, setting a new Olympic record for the 200-metre flying start in the process.

The world record was safe though, with the woman who set it in 2019, Canada's Kelsey Mitchell taking the second best qualifying time while it was another German rider, world champion Emma Hinze, who slotted into third place.

It wasn't long after the 30 riders set out that we saw the Olympic Record of 10.721 set by Great Britain’s Rebecca James in 2016 at Rio fall. The eighth rider out on the Izu Velodrome Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand set the early mark of 10.563, with the 21 year-old showing that the fast finish that delivered her the Keirin silver on Thursday could also make her a formidable rival in the sprint.

It wasn’t until another ten riders had lined up that a new record was set, with Mathilde Gros of France delivering a time of 10.400. Then the record fell again with Friedrich delivering a time of 10.31. In the end 17 riders delivered a qualifying time below the Rio record.

France's Gros held on for fourth, while Andrews early Olympic Record breaking time left her in 11th place. Katy Marchant of Great Britain, was the last rider to start, slotting into eighth place after having suffered a crash in the quarter final of the Keiren on Thursday. Dutch rider Laurine van Riessen, who Marchant came down with, was out of the competition due to her injuries.

In the qualifying round riders complete a flying 200 metre time-trial, with times taken after two-and-a-half build up laps, with the fastest 24 of the 30 riders qualifying. It also determines the seeding order for the more tactical sprints ahead, starting with the 1/32 finals. The main rounds, excluding the repechages are a 1/16 finals round, 1/8 finals, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.