New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews won the women’s Sprint at the Paris Olympic Games, only needing two of the three heats in the final to beat Lea Friedrich (Germany) and secure gold.
This marked the second gold medal in Paris for the Kiwi, who had earlier won the Women’s Keirin and also secured silver in the team sprint.
Andrews raced flawlessly, winning all her heats on her way to capturing the top step on the podium.
“I feel like I'm living in a dream. I don't really know what to say. It's been a massive week, and I'm just so proud of how I've managed to carry myself to the end of the competition,” Andrews said.
“She's an amazing rider, all the girls are. So to come up against her, I had to read the race and hopefully create a plan that was going to put me across the line first,” Andrews said of racing against Friedrich.
“I'm just telling myself, 'It’s just one more race and leave it out on the track'. I wanted to finish that race knowing I had absolutely emptied the tank, which I did."
Friedrich had to regroup after losing the first heat in the semi-finals. “When I lost that first heat against Hetty, I said to myself: 'no, Lea, you're going to make it, there's no other way', and I managed (to win).
“It’s unbelievable for me, I can't describe this feeling now. I'm so proud of myself, and it's so nice to see my mother and my father over there. She's my biggest support.”
"It's my first (Olympic) medal in an individual event, I'm so proud of myself. [I'm] also quite tired from the tough week with ups and downs.
In the battle for the bronze, reigning UCI World Champion Emma Finucane (Great Britain) bested Hetty van de Wouw (Netherlands).
“I left everything on that track. I have had a whole week of racing. I'm really proud of how I managed the expectations and the pressure,” Finucane said.
Finucane, who won a bronze medal in the women’s Keirin and was part of the gold-winning Great Britain team in the women’s team sprint, made history as the first British female cyclist to earn three medals in a single Olympic Games.
"I didn't know about this stat until the last two races. Being a part of that is amazing. I met my hero here, Victoria Pendleton, the other day. There are so many icons here. I just hope young girls start to watch track cycling, because it's a pretty cool sport."
Semifinal
Quarterfinal
Defending Olympic champion in the women's sprint Kelsey Mitchell endured two rounds of repechages to make it through to the quarterfinal, but her hopes of a second gold medal ended at the hands of Lea Friedrich (Germany) in the quarterfinal round on Saturday.
Emma Finucane (Great Britain) made quick work of defeating Martha Bayona (Colombia), while Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand) beat Emma Hinze (Germany) to move onto Sunday's semifinal.
Hetty van de Wouw (Netherlands) advanced to the semi's over Sophie Capewell (Great Britain).
Friedrich set the world record for the flying 200 metres in the women’s sprint qualification round, as the world record was beaten four times during the flying 200m time trial.
Sophie Capewell (Great Britain) set a time of 10.132, Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand) set 10.108, Emma Finucane (Great Britain) went even faster in 10.067 but Friedrich proved to be fastest and took the new world record in a time of 10.029.
Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell held the previous world record of 10.154 but was only tenth fastest in 10.285.
24 riders qualified for the next round of the women’s sprint, with Yuan of China and Belgium’s Nicky Degrendele not racing after their high-speed crash in the Keirin.
All the big-name favourites then won their single-sprint races to progress to the 1/16 round of the competition.
Canada's Lauriane Genest, the Netherlands' Steffie van der Peet and local hero Taky Kouame of France qualified by winning the repechage sprints.
All three went out in the next round, however, as there were few surprises in the preliminary rounds.
The finals to award the medals on Sunday, the final day of the 2024 Olympic Games.
