The track cycling events at the Paris Olympics begin on Monday, August 5 with the first medals being awarded in the women's team sprint at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome outside Paris.
The day's racing begins at 17:00 CET with qualifying, where the eight nations who qualified for the women's team sprint will face off against the clock to be seeded for the first round.
Women's Team Sprint competitors
- Canada: Lauriane Genest, Kelsey Mitchell, Sarah Orban
- China: Boa Shanju, Guo Yufang, Yuan Liying
- Great Britain: Katy Marchant, Emma Finucane, Sophie Capewell
- Germany: Lea Friedrich, Pauline Grabosch, Emma Hinze
- Mexico: Luz Daniela Gaxiola Gonzalez, Jessica Salazar Valles, Yuli Paola Verdugo Osuna
- Netherlands: Kyra Lamberink, Hetty van de Wouw, Steffie van der Peet
- New Zealand: Ellesse Andrews, Shaane Fulton, Rebecca Petch
- Poland: Marlena Karwacka, Ios Urszula, Nikola Sibiak
Women's Team Sprint contenders
Germany have been the top team in the women's team sprint since taking silver to China at the Olympics in Tokyo. At the UCI World Championships in Glasgow last year, Emma Hinze, Lea Friedrich and Pauline Grabosch set the world record for the 750 metre women's team sprint in taking their fourth straight world title in this event.
Great Britain have been the top performers during the Nations Cup over the past year, making huge strides as Lauren Bell, Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell perfect their technique and timing. However, Bell was injured in February in a starting gate incident at the Nations Cup in Adelaide and missed being selected for the Olympics. The more experienced Katy Marchant will appear in the team in Paris, instead.
China's Bao Shanju, Guo Yufang and Yuan Liying will undoubtedly be fierce competitors as defending champions, but fell behind Great Britain at Worlds after taking silver in 2022.
Schedule
- August 5: 11:00 - Women's Team Sprint Qualifying
- August 5: 12:55 - Women's Team Sprint, First Round
- August 5: 13:46 - Women's Team Sprint Finals
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