Track Worlds Day 7 - Gold for Valente in women's Omnium

Emma Finucane takes first world title in women's Sprint

Great Britain secured another medal as Emma Finucane sprinted to her career-first world title in the women's sprint final at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome on Wednesday. 

Finucane was up against eight-time World Champion Lea Sophie Friedrich of Germany in the gold medal round, winning with a sprint time of 10.866.

Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand secured the bronze medal with a time of 10.988, beating Emma Hinze of Germany.

Aaron Gate wins Points Race

Aaron Gate of New Zealand won the men's Points Race, finishing the 40km, 160-lap race with a total of 123 points at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. 

Gate secured the world title ahead of Spain's Albert Torres Barcelo, who earned 107 points, and Fabio van den Bossche of Belgium, who earned 95 points.

Gate, Torres Barcelo, Van den Bossche and Roger Kluge (Germany) took winning laps during the event, earning 80 additional points for their efforts. Gate also took points in 13 of the 16 sprints offered during the race for a total of 12 points.

"It's enough to say that I've wanted this for a long time. I last had a crack at the Points Race in 2012, so it's been more than 10 years on," said Gate, who earned a world title in the Omnium in 2013.

 "It's such a special race to be able to race like that, and sat here next to my coach, who has coached me since I was half my age, and thanks to my wife and two boys. It's nice to make it worthwhile when I'm spending time away from them."

Kevin Santiago Quintero Chavarro wins Keirin

Kevin Quintero (Colombia) won the men's Keirin final for gold, securing the world title at the Glasgow Worlds.

The Colombian bumped Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen off the throne, after he had held three consecutive titles in the Keirin from 2020-2022.

Lavreysen started his surge early with three laps to go. However, a fresher Quintero came around the outside, passing Lavreysen on the final lap. 

Australia's Matthew Richardson and Japan's Shinji Nakano also passed to finish second and third, respectively, while Lavreysen ended finishing in fourth place.

Women's Omnium

Jennifer Valente (USA) repeated her victory in the women's Omnium, winning the four-round event with 145 points. She accumulated her score by finishing second in the Scratch Race, first in the Tempo Race, second in the Elimination Race and first in the Points Race.

"To back up last year is special in a different kind of way," Valente said. "I was elated last year and so excited to have reached a career goal of mine. This race was for me, and I was focused on myself and my own racing, and took it one step of the process and was able to defend it."

Valente has earned six elite world titles on the track across events; Team Pursuit, Omnium and Scratch Race, with the final two won this week in Glasgow.

Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark) secured the silver medal with 136 points, and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) took the bronze medal with 133 points in the Omnium.

In the first of four events, the Scratch Race, Ally Wollaston of New Zealand won the sprint ahead of Valente and Letizia Paternoster (Italy) to start with top points in the Omnium. 

Great Britain's Katie Archibald, Dideriksen, and Kopecky finished just down the results in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, aiming to move up the standings in the later events.

Valente moved into the top spot on the standings after winning the second event, Tempo Race. She secured a total of 30 points after winning 10 of the sprints on offer and taking a lap with Wollaston, Valentine Fortin (France), Daria Pikulik (Poland), and Yumi Kajihara (Japan).

Valente finished that event ahead of runner-up Fortin with 26 points and Wollaston with 23 points.

After winning the world title in the Elimination Race earlier in the week, Kopecky put a stamp on the event in the Omnium, winning the third round ahead of Valente and Fortin, but after falling short in the first two events, she was no longer in contention for the world title.

In the race for points, Valente secured a total of 116 points ahead of Wollaston, who secured 96 points and Fortin 94, setting herself up for a second consecutive world title ahead of the final Points Race.