Team GB star Jack Carlin clinches bronze in Olympic men’s sprint by holding-off Denis Dmitriev as Harrie Lavreysen clinches gold in ferocious all-Dutch final in Tokyo… while Katy Marchant cruises into the quarter-final
Jack Carlin grabbed bronze in the Olympic men’s sprint with victory over Denis Dmitriev, adding to his silver medal for Great Britain in the team event.
The Scottish fast-man comfortably saw-off the ROC athlete in the first round of the best-of-three contest but had to strain for the second as Dmitriev came flying around the outside.
The 23-year-old continues a superb debut Games, adding bronze to his silver won alongside Jason Kenny and Ryan Owens in the team sprint. The men’s keirin kicks-off on Saturday, offering Carlin a chance to complete the set.
Jack Carlin beat Denis Dmitriev to the bronze medal in the men’s sprint on Friday morning
The GB star dominated his ROC rival in the two rounds, continuing a stunning debut Games
Carlin also bagged a silver medal from the team sprint, and has looked like the future for GB
Carlin bagged his second medal of Tokyo 2020 just minutes after Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald had produced a crushingly dominant ride in the women’s madison, as the former pocketed her fifth gold of a legendary career.
In the team sprint final it was the Dutch team who stopped GB winning for a fourth-straight Games, and Carlin’s route to victory was also blocked by the orange-clad powerhouses.
After seeing-off Max Levy in the last eight, world champion Harrie Lavreysen awaited in the semi-final at the Izu Velodrome.
The Dutchman had already crushed Carlin’s Team GB team-mate Jason Kenny’s Olympic defence, dominating the two-time champion in the quarter-final.
In this best-of-three shootout, it was Lavreysen who took the first round despite being pushed to the finish line by Carlin.
Carlin lost out to Harrie Lavreysen in the semi-final, with the Dutchman moving on to win gold
Katy Marchant meanwhile began her charge for the women’s sprint gold medal in Japan
Marchant saw-off Yuka Kobayashi in the last-32 after qualifying as the eighth fastest woman
The second began at a tense slow speed before Lavreysen, the world champion, raised the pace with a convincing dummy – always looking in control of the heat.
The Scot kicked first and had the Dutchman baring down on him through the back straight but found he was powerless to stop his rival sweeping over the top metres before the line.
While Carlin moved on to face-off with Dmitriev, Lavreysen met team-mate Jeffrey Hoogerland in the final.
The opening round was as ferocious as you’ll see, with both men weaving and jinking around aiming to catch the other out.
Hoogerland couldn’t trouble the world champion, though, with Lavreysen storming to gold with back-to-back wins.
As Carlin’s sprint semi-final unfolded, GB’s Katy Marchant comfortably qualified for the sprint heats in eighth behind an Olympic record from German Lea Friedrich in the 200m event.
The Scot is aiming to salvage her Games after suffering terrible luck in the keirin quarter-final, where Laurine van Riessen clumsily clipped the wheel in front and crashed, bringing a helpless Marchant down with her.
The Leeds-born rider was paired against home hope Yuka Kobayashi in the last-32 heat, and she stalked the Japanese sprinter before powering up and over her to pull comfortably clear before the final bend.
Experienced star Lee Wai Sze awaited in the last-16, and Marchant launched the sprint from the front against the Hong Kong star – just holding-off the 34-year-old’s late dive to the line.
Marchant is now into Saturday’s sprint quarter-final at the Izu velodrome.