British track sprinter Emma Finucane broke the flying 200m world record by more than two tenths of a second on Monday morning.
The 23-year-old, an Olympic champion and three-time world champion, clocked a time of 9.759 seconds in qualifying for the individual sprint at the UEC European Track Championships in Konya, Turkey. She became only the third woman in history to go under 10 seconds in the event, doing so with an average speed was 73.78kph (45.84mph)
The previous women’s world record was held by China’s Yuan Liying, who recorded a 9.976 last March at the same velodrome in Konya. The track, located at 1,200m above sea level, is wider and steeper than others, and is where Matthew Richardson set the men’s world record at 8.857 seconds last August.
“People know that I wanted to break a world record. I think every girl coming into this competition wanted to take the opportunity, too,” Finuncane said afterwards.
“I was really nervous to execute the perfect ride. I think I pretty much went out there and did everything I think I could possibly perfectly. To come away, to look at the board and see 9.7 and break a world record is unbelievable. I actually can’t believe it.”
Earlier on Monday morning, Finucane's GB team-mate Sophie Capewell came within six hundredths of a second of Liying’s benchmark as the second woman ever to go sub-10.
Capewell won a silver medal on Sunday in the team sprint, an event Finucane chose to skip in order to focus on the flying 200m world record and individual sprint competition.
“I’ve seen on Instagram that a few girls are going to try and do it,” the 23-year-old told Cycling Weekly last month. “I saw Lea [Sophie Freidrich, former flying 200m world record holder] put something on Instagram like, ‘Watch this space.’ Then obviously Hetty [van de Wouw]. There are a few girls eyeing up this sub-10. Obviously Yuan [Liying] has already done it, so I think let’s just see where that record can go. That’s a goal of mine.”
Freidrich finished third in qualifying with a time of 10.010 seconds, while Van de Wouw placed sixth with 10.120.
Following Finucane’s successful attempt, the organiser of the European Championships, the UEC, wrote on social media: “History rewritten in Konya.”
British Cycling posted on Instagram: “Konya believe it! Emma Finucane knocks nearly a quarter of a second off the women’s flying 200m time-trial record with a time of 9.759.”
Finucane now holds two world records, having set the team sprint benchmark alongside Capewell and Katy Marchant with their gold medal-winning ride at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Both Finucane and Capewell will compete in the individual sprint finals later on Monday afternoon as the top two seeded riders.
