Reigning Olympic and World Champion Jennifer Valente of the United States secured the gold medal in the final cycling event of the Paris Olympic Games on Sunday. Just four days earlier, Valente had also claimed gold in the women’s team pursuit.
The American showcased her dominance in the first three events of the women’s omnium, winning the scratch race and elimination race, and securing second place in the tempo race. Heading into the decisive points race, she had amassed 118 points, 10 more than Australia’s Georgia Baker and 22 points on Canada’s Maggie Coles-Lyster.
Bold attacks shook up the standings, setting the stage for an intense battle for the podium in the fourth and final event, while Valente held onto her lead. The American star ultimately clinched victory with 144 points. Poland’s Daria Pikulik earned the silver medal with 131 points, and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston secured the bronze with 125 points.
“I went into the day to ride each of the four events as a standalone basically, and I think I did that pretty well and it worked out. I definitely went into the points race looking at the couple of riders that were trailing me, and the points gap dropped a little bit once you get further down the startlist. I was pretty happy to let other people take points and let the race evolve,” Valente said.
“It’s fantastic [to have won two gold medals]. This has been a very long week, with the team pursuit qualifying a week ago, and I’m really excited to pull it off on the last day.”
Pikulik faced an officiating error during the elimination race when she was mistakenly eliminated by the race commissaires. The mistake was corrected, and the race was yellow-flagged to allow her to rejoin the pack. She was ultimately eliminated in 10th place.
“I can’t describe in words how proud I am of myself today. I didn't start the Omnium in the way that I hoped for, and also in the elimination race, I don't know what happened. It was like ‘mistake Pikulik is out’ and I was like, how is this possible?” the Polish rider said.
“I was not happy about it but, I also feel a little bit angry. And after that, I just told myself you just go full gas from the start, no matter if you will be OK for the finish and that will be enough energy. You just need to go full gas to be proud of yourself that you did it on your own and I did it.”
Wollaston also won the silver in the team pursuit at Paris 2024.
“I actually didn't even know that I was in the bronze medal competition until maybe 10 laps to go. And I heard my name, and I looked up on the board. It was the first time I looked up and thought, 'Oh my god, yeah’,” Wollaston said.
Race 4: Points race & final ranking
| Rank | Name and Country | Sprint Points | Lap Points | Omnium Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer Valente (United States of America) | 6 | 20 | 144 |
| 2 | Daria Pikulik (Poland) | 19 | 40 | 131 |
| 3 | Ally Wollaston (New Zealand) | 11 | 40 | 125 |
| 4 | Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) | 4 | 40 | 116 |
| 5 | Georgia Baker (Australia) | Row 4 - Cell 2 | Row 4 - Cell 3 | 108 |
| 6 | Maike van der Duin (Netherlands) | 2 | 40 | 106 |
| 7 | Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) | 1 | 20 | 105 |
| 8 | Anita Stenberg (Norway) | 6 | 20 | 102 |
| 9 | Maggie Coles-Lyster (Canada) | 5 | Row 8 - Cell 3 | 101 |
| 10 | Lara Gillespie (Ireland) | 3 | 20 | 99 |
| 11 | Letizia Paternoster (Italy) | 20 | Row 10 - Cell 3 | 84 |
| 12 | Olivija Baleisyte (Lithuania) | 2 | 20 | 80 |
| 13 | Aline Seitz (Switzerland) | 1 | 20 | 69 |
| 14 | Maria Martins (Portugal) | 7 | Row 13 - Cell 3 | 61 |
| 15 | Neah Evans (Great Britain) | 17 | 20 | 52 |
| 16 | Valentine Fortin (France) | 5 | 20 | 50 |
| 17 | Yumi Kajihara (Japan) | 5 | 20 | 44 |
| 18 | Franziska Brausse (Germany) | 2 | Row 17 - Cell 3 | 41 |
| 19 | Liu Jiali (People's Republic of China) | Row 18 - Cell 2 | Row 18 - Cell 3 | 38 |
| 20 | Ebtissam Zayed (Egypt) | Row 19 - Cell 2 | Row 19 - Cell 3 | 35 |
| 21 | Lee Sze Wing (Hong Kong, China) | Row 20 - Cell 2 | Row 20 - Cell 3 | 26 |
| 22 | Victoria Velasco Fuentes (Mexico) | 3 | Row 21 - Cell 3 | -32 |
Race 3: Elimination race
| Rank | Name and Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer Valente (United States of America) |
| 2 | Georgia Baker (Australia) |
| 3 | Maggie Coles-Lyster (Canada) |
| 4 | Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) |
| 5 | Anita Stenberg (Norway) |
| 6 | Letizia Paternoster (Italy) |
| 7 | Maike van der Duin (Netherlands) |
| 8 | Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) |
| 9 | Lara Gillespie (Ireland) |
| 10 | Daria Pikulik (Poland) |
| 11 | Valentine Fortin (France) |
| 12 | Ally Wollaston (New Zealand) |
| 13 | Olivija Baleisyte (Lithuania) |
| 14 | Ebtissam Zayed (Egypt) |
| 15 | Maria Martins (Portugal) |
| 16 | Liu Jiali (People's Republic of China) |
| 17 | Neah Evans (Great Britain) |
| 18 | Lee Sze Wing (Hong Kong, China) |
| 19 | Aline Seitz (Switzerland) |
| 20 | Victoria Velasco Fuentes (Mexico) |
| 21 | Yumi Kajihara (Japan) |
| 22 | Franziska Brausse (Germany) |
Race 2: Tempo race
| Rank | Name | Sprint Points | Lap Points | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lara Gillespie (Ireland) | 4 | 20 | 24 |
| 2 | Jennifer Valente (United States of America) | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| 3 | Daria Pikulik (Poland) | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| 4 | Georgia Baker (Australia) | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | Franziska Brausse (Germany) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Maria Martins (Portugal) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Ally Wollaston (New Zealand) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Maggie Coles-Lyster (Canada) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Aline Seitz (Switzerland) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Anita Stenberg (Norway) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Lee Sze Wing (Hong Kong, China) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Olivija Baleisyte (Lithuania) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Letizia Paternoster (Italy) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Liu Jiali (People's Republic of China) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Yumi Kajihara (Japan) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Neah Evans (Great Britain) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Valentine Fortin (France) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Maike van der Duin (Netherlands) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Ebtissam Zayed (Egypt) | -20 | -20 | -40 |
| 22 | Victoria Velasco Fuentes (Mexico) | -40 | -40 | -80 |
Race 1: Scratch race
| Number | Name and Country |
|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer Valente (United States of America) |
| 2 | Maggie Coles-Lyster (Canada) |
| 3 | Georgia Baker (Australia) |
| 4 | Maike van der Duin (Netherlands) |
| 5 | Ally Wollaston (New Zealand) |
| 6 | Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) |
| 7 | Olivija Baleisyte (Lithuania) |
| 8 | Anita Stenberg (Norway) |
| 9 | Aline Seitz (Switzerland) |
| 10 | Letizia Paternoster (Italy) |
| 11 | Ebtissam Zayed (Egypt) |
| 12 | Liu Jiali (People's Republic of China) |
| 13 | Maria Martins (Portugal) |
| 14 | Daria Pikulik (Poland) |
| 15 | Lara Gillespie (Ireland) |
| 16 | Yumi Kajihara (Japan) |
| 17 | Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) |
| 18 | Franziska Brausse (Germany) |
| 19 | Lee Sze Wing (Hong Kong, China) |
| 20 | Victoria Velasco Fuentes (Mexico) |
| 21 | Valentine Fortin (France) |
| 22 | Neah Evans (Great Britain) |
-
'I've got a set of boxers, a set of socks, so it's no stress' - Finlay Pickering unfazed by last-minute plunge into Grand Tour debut at Vuelta a España
22-year-old Briton super-late substitute for injured Bahrain Victorious teammate Damiano Caruso -
'It's never as easy as it looks' - Jasper Philipsen's rollercoaster 2025 season continues with fourth stage win and first lead in the Vuelta a España
Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter bounces back after crashing out of Tour de France -
The current GC standings at the Vuelta a España 2025
Jasper Philipsen leads the race overall after he took the victory on the opening stage in Italy -
As it happened: bunch sprint decides stage one of the 2025 Vuelta a España
The final Grand Tour of the season gets underway with the Gran Salida in Turin, marking a first-ever Italian start for La Vuelta
