GOLDEN MOMENT
Sophie Wessex wipes away tears as Team GB break world record in stunning women’s team sprint Paris 2024 gold medal
It is the first time Britain has won a women’s team sprint medal, of any colour, at the Olympics
SOPHIE Wessex wiped away tears after Team GB clinched the gold medal and broke the world record in the women's team sprint.
The Duchess of Edinburgh was overcome with raw emotion after the scintillating win in Paris saw Britain's best cyclists conquer the world.
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Emma Finucane, Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell could not hold back their smiles after they won gold for Great Britain in the women’s team sprint.
The victorious trio set a new world record - for the third time in the session - of 45.186 seconds to beat New Zealand.
It is the first time Britain has won a women’s team sprint medal, of any colour, at the Olympics.
Sophie was seen animatedly clapping her hands in the crowd and roaring her support as the trio raced to glory.
She was then spotted happily taking selfies with other members in the stands after the breathtaking win.
Team GB had already topped the time sheets in qualifying, clocking 45.472 to narrowly beat the world record set by China at a national event in June.
Illustrating the fast conditions of the Paris track, Germany and New Zealand both set world records within minutes of each other in the first round, only for Britain to go faster again with a time of 45.338.
The gold medal match against New Zealand was tense, but Britain were the best team all evening and so it proved again in the final.
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After trailing by +0.133 after lap one, Capewell turned the race on its head to hand over to Finucane.
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Marchant turned on the afterburners for the final 250m to cross in 45.186 seconds and clinch gold with a clean sweep of world records from their three efforts last night.
The triumph boosted Team GB's hopes of finishing in the top five nations overall at this summer's Games, which end on Sunday.
And British cycling legend Victoria Pendleton told the BBC: "I could see they were going to win. I am so happy for them, I actually feel quite emotional.
"Absolutely fantastic. Such a beautiful performance. It was powerful, it was confident.
"To then break the world record, they haven't just broken it today, they have smashed it. 45.186, that is incredible.
"It has finally put to bed the fact that the women's sprint side of the cycling side is weakest."
The Olympic title is vindication for several years of hard work put in by the team to become competitive.
Finucane, the 21-year-old individual world champion, is hoping this could be the first of three gold medals in Paris as she also targets the individual event and the keirin.
Capewell is due to also race in the individual sprint, while Marchant - a bronze medallist from Rio 2016 - will contest the keirin.
The men’s sprint team on the other hand are likely going to require the Dutch to slip up on Tuesday evening.
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GB’s team, coached by Jason Kenny, nearly matched the national record set at Tokyo, qualifying second quickest with a 41.862.
But that was still 0.6sec slower than the Dutch trio of Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland managed.
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