Paris Olympics: The Netherlands break 41-second barrier in winning gold in men's Team Sprint

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Gold for the Netherlands

The Netherlands celebrated winning the gold medal and smashing the world record in the men's Team Sprint Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome outside Paris at the Olympic Games on Tuesday.

Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen, and Jeffrey Hoogland had already set new Olympic and World records in both the qualification and first rounds of the men's Team Sprint.

They then smashed through those records again in the gold-medal final with a winning performance in a time of 40.949, setting new Olympic and World records.

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The Netherlands faced off against Great Britain's team of Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin, who were forced to settle for the silver medal with a time of 41.814.

Hoogland said that going under 41 seconds was "a sort of secret dream".

"Yesterday we started thinking about it because the track is really fast. We had this feeling that we needed a world record to be Olympic Champions, so that's what we aimed for, and in the finals, going under 41 seconds, was absolutely crazy."

Van den Berg said the result was amazing. "We have worked very hard for this moment- to be at your absolute best is something pretty hard, and to achieve this with the three of us is an amazing achievement. People are very happy to do the race in 41 seconds, and today we achieved the 40-second barrier, which is absolutely outstanding, in my opinion."

Tokyo silver medalist Jack Carlin said he was proud of his team for pulling out another silver racing with two Olympic newcomers.

"We know what we can do as a team. We had that in the tank if we executed well," Carlin said. "It's not easy to come to your first Olympic Games. I'm really proud of the team. We surpassed what we wanted. We will enjoy that."

They were up against the fastest three men in the history of track cycling, however.

"Look at the world record. The Dutch are a great team, they are three great individuals. We went to that final and enjoyed it. I didn't have these emotions in Tokyo," Carlin said.

Australia won the bronze medal in a thrilling final for third and fourth places in the men's Team Sprint, where they faced off against France.

France's team of Florian Grengbo, Sebastien Vigier and Rayan Helal looked like they would take the medal after Australia had a slower start. However, the Australians with Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer came through a fraction of a second faster on the last lap to win the bronze with a time of 41.597.

Glaetzer, who has been fourth in the London, Rio and Tokyo Olympic Games with Australia's team sprint squad was relieved to finally win a hard-earned medal, even if it wasn't the colour he'd been dreaming of.

"It's very special. I've lived through a lot of heartbreak in every team sprint Olympic final, I've been on the losing side in the bronze final. It's been very tough, but to finally come out on the winners side of it was pretty special."

Japan secured fifth place in the race against Germany, finishing with a faster time of 42.078. China beat Canada in the race for seventh place with a time of 45.531.

Netherlands set another World, Olympic record in first round

The Netherlands set a new men's team sprint world and Olympic record en route to qualifying for the gold medal final on Tuesday, clicking off their three-lap race in 41.191 seconds, 0.034 seconds quicker than their world mark set in Berlin in 2020.

Lavreysen, Van den Berg and Hoogland will face off against Great Britain's Lowe,  Turnbull and Carlin after that trio finished second-fastest with a distant 41.819 second effort.

France whipped the crowd into a frenzy by qualifying to move onto the bronze medal round, clocking a 42.376 while Australia's Hoffman, Richardson and Glaetzer were a hair quicker in joining them in the fight for that final, finishing in 42.336 seconds.

Germany and Japan will compete for fifth and sixth place while Canada and China will fight for seventh and eighth in the final round.

Netherlands set new Olympic record

The Netherlands beat their own Olympic record, which was set in Tokyo, with the fastest time of 41.279 in the men's Team Sprint qualification round at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome outside Paris.

Australia opened up the faster times early on, with the three riders, Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Richardson, and Matthew Glaetzer, coming through with a time of 42.072.

That time didn't hold, however, as Great Britain's team beat that time with 41.862 thanks to the powerful efforts of Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin.

The Netherlands team of Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland were the last of eight teams and stormed across the line with the Olympic record and the fastest qualifying time.

The men's Team Sprint resumes on Tuesday for the First Round and the Finals.