Published August 2, 2021 06:30AM
Tokyo Olympic track racing: China wins women's Team Sprint gold, U.S women's Pursuit squad sets up battle with Great Britain
U.S. Team Pursuit squad qualifies third as Germany, GB, and the U.S. all beat previous world record; China tops Germany for Team Sprint gold.
USA's Jennifer Valente, USA's Chloe Dygert, USA's Emma White and USA's Lily Williams compete in the women's track cycling team pursuit qualifying event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Izu Velodrome in Izu, Japan, on August 2, 2021. (Photo by Peter PARKS / AFP) (Photo by PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images)
The Tokyo Olympic track program kicked off Monday.
Chinese pair Shanju Bao and Tianshi Zhong became the Izu velodrome’s first gold medalists with their blazing ride to Team Sprint triumph, while Germany and Denmark dominated in the women’s and men’s Team Pursuit qualifiers.
Chloe Dygert, Emma White, Jennifer Valente and Lily Williams qualified in third in the Pursuit to set up a first-round heat with Great Britain on Tuesday.
Here’s what happened in the opening day on the boards in Toyko:
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China better Germany for women’s Team Sprint gold
China crushed the qualifiers and backed it up in the finals to win the gold medal Monday.
Bao and Zhong became the first gold medalists on the track in the Tokyo Games as the team successfully defended its title from Rio.
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Results – Finals
- Gold – China: 31.895
- Silver – Germany: 31.980
- Bronze – ROC: 32.353
USA qualifies third in women’s Team Pursuit
Records tumbled in the women’s Team Pursuit qualifiers.
The USA’s foursome of Dygert, White, Valente, and Williams was a fraction slower than the British team in their effort, finishing with a time of 4:10.118.
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Germany came top in the qualifiers to set up a first-round with Italy, who placed fourth. Second and third-placed Team GB and USA will face-off in a heavyweight matchup in the first round of heats Tuesday.
Australia will race New Zealand and Canada will face France.
Heats –Tuesday:
- Germany vs Italy
- United States vs Great Britain
- Australia vs New Zealand
- Canada vs France
Demark dominates men’s team pursuit qualifiers, Australian’s bike breaks
Italy and then Denmark both smashed the men’s Team Pursuit qualifiers to set new Olympic records.
Lasse Norman Hansen motored the Danish quartet that included Frederik Madsen, Rasmus Pedersen and Niklas Larsen to a time of 3:45.014, one second shy of their own world record. They will face Great Britain, who qualified fourth, in Tuesday’s heats.
The rules meant the Australian team was allowed to restart their effort, but the foursome struggled in the finals, qualifying in fifth. They will race Switzerland in the heats. Canada will battle against Germany on Tuesday.
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Heats – Tuesday:
- Denmark vs Great Britain
- Italy vs New Zealand
- Australia vs Switzerland
- Canada vs Germany