Hammer wins 2013 omnium world title, Britain tops medal table
Hammer wins second title of 2013 track worlds on the event's closing day
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MINSK, Belarus (AFP) — American star Sarah Hammer took revenge on British Olympic champion Laura Trott to clinch omnium gold at the UCI Elite Track World Championships on Sunday.
Hammers omnium gold is her second of the 2013 worlds, adding to her fifth individual pursuit title won earlier in the week.
Trott denied Hammer by one point at London 2012, but the American took the honors this time around by four points. Trott earned silver.
“A better rider beat me on the day. What more can I do?” Trott told the BBC.
Australia’s Annette Edmondson, a bronze medalist in London, filled the same placing ahead of fourth-placed Katarzyna Pawlowska of Poland.
Britain’s Becky James pocketed her second gold at the worlds in as many days on Sunday, landing the women’s keirin to add to her sprint title on the closing day. The 21-year-old Welsh star became the first Briton to win four medals at a worlds and led throughout as she beat home China’s Gong Jinjie and Lisandra Guerra of Cuba to give Britain’s contingent its fifth title of the event.
“Wow. It’s going to take a good week for it to sink in, or two weeks, or a month,” said James, who endured five straight days of racing to become the first rider since Australian Anna Meares in 2007 to win four medals at a single world championships. “I just need someone to pinch me and tell me if it’s really happening to me.”
Her stellar showings helped propel the British to nine medals in total, enough to head the overall table, having also landed two silvers and two bronze.
There was heartache for Germany’s Kristian Vogel, meanwhile, as she fell in the keirin, having lost Saturday’s sprint final to James.
Among the men, French and German fans were celebrating after French duo Vivien Brisse and Morgan Kneisky won Madison gold, beating out silver medalists David Mutaner and Albert Torres of Spain and bronze winners Henning Bommel and Theo Reinhardt of Germany.
Defending champions Kenny De Ketele and Gijs Van Hoecke of Belgium finished eighth.
“We had the outline of the course in our heads and I had already followed this program once in the World Cup. We wanted to do something good and it all fell into place,” said Brisse.
Germany’s Stefan Botticher won the men’s sprint gold, the 21-year-old beating Russia’s Denis Dmitriev with the bronze medal going to France’s Francois Pervis, who just pushed New Zealander Sam Webster off the podium.
Botticher had to come through the repechages after his defeat to British Olympic champion Jason Kenny, who went out to Webster in the quarterfinals.
Botticher, who also won Thursday’s team sprint gold, gave his country its first individual sprint world title since 2005.
The reigning world sprint champion, France’s Gregory Baugé, elected not to defend his title in Minsk.