Women's 3000m Team Pursuit

 

2008 World Track Championships - Day 3

Finals: The gold medal final saw a rampant GB complete a clean sweep of all four pursuit titles at the championships with an emphatic win over a brave Ukraine team. Ukraine actually went off the quicker, perhaps hoping to rattle their opponents. However, GB had pegged them back at the 1km mark and from then on it was all GB as they built a lead of almost a second at the 2km mark, roared on by an enthusiastic crowd. In the closing stages the Ukraine team fractured, their lead rider dropping the other two, but it was irrelevant as GB streamed across the line to record their second world record of the day with a time of 3m 22.415s.

 

Rider Reaction

 

Wendy Houvenaghel: “That was exhilarating! I am just so happy we have won the world championship medal in front of the home crowd. The event itself was over before I knew it and suddenly we were going over the finish line."

 

On whether the rainbow jersey made up for the loss in the bronze medal ride the night before in the Individual Pursuit, Wendy replied “It has indeed.” Asked about her rides during the day in the team pursuit, she explained “much better this evening. This afternoon, we were just getting into our stride. We all came off knowing we had more to give this evening which made us feel quite confident. In the final, we made an effort to pick up the speed, keep it together and grab that Gold.”

 

Talking about how she felt after the Pursuit the night before when she was fourth, she says “I was really happy after I had sat down and considered actually what I had done. The performance itself was world class, 3.31. I posted the third fastest time in the qualification and the same in the final but I never came away with a  medal but I know in my mind that I am up there with the top girls five months out from the Olympic Games.”

Rebecca Romero, coach Dan Hunt, Wendy Houvenaghel and Jo Rowsell after the presentation of Gold medals.

 

Jo Rowsell: Not long out of school and currently an academy ride with the GB Cycling team, Jo Rowsell has had an amazing career so far, short though it may be, and she was smiling brightly after becoming a World Champion. “It’s still sinking in” she told us. “It’s amazing.” About how she felt riding with the two of the top four pursuiters in the world, she replied “I felt great out there, on it the whole way. The crowd was amazing to hear them banging the boards, you forget the pain.”

 

“I felt a lot better in the second ride and Wendy and Becs did too. It’s great that they managed to back yesterday's rides as well after having done two flat out 3k efforts.” On how it went technically, she replied “we haven’t done a huge amount but I think we have improved a lot in the sessions we have done. I had the opportunity to ride with the male academy riders on a few occasions which has really helped me as well. Generally the time I have spent on the track this winter has brought me on massively. Tonight has been the best thing ever for me!”

Jo Rowsell

Romero leads Houvenaghel and Rowsell as GB drive to the gold medal

Germany dominated the bronze medal ride-off, always drawing away from their rivals and recording a very impressive 3.26.560, the second fastest time to date in the event.

Ukraine struggle to keep formation as they head for the second fastest time

Qualifying: Making its debut at the Championships, this event looks like becoming a popular addition. First to set a time was the GB trio of Houvenaghel, Romero and Rowsell, a powerful looking line-up on paper. And they look to have done their preparation well as they rode a very smooth race. All three are tall and rangy and fit the Team Pursuit profile very well and their time of 3.25.725 looked impressive.

A couple of the teams looked a little ragged at times, especially the Dutch, who split in the closing stages and struggled to re-form in time for the finish.

Last off, the Ukraine trio looked threatening for a time and were ahead of GB for almost 2km, but slowly slipped behind and almost split going into the last 2 laps. That slowed them a little more, but they still comfortably qualified for the gold medal ride-off against GB, recording a time some 8 tenths slower, but 2 seconds clear of the third placed Germans, who went in to the bronze ride-off against Belarus.

Number 1! Rebecca Romero, Wendy Houvenaghel and Jo Rowsell

Ride off for Gold

Great Britain (Houvenaghel, Romero, Rowsell) 3.22.415
Ukraine (Bochkarova, Kalitovska, Shulika) 3.29.744

Ride off for Bronze

Germany (Becker, Joos, Sontheimer) 3.26.560
Belarus (Amialyusik, Papko, Sharakova) 3.29.449

Qualifying

1. Great Britain (Houvenaghel, Romero, Rowsell) 3.25.725
2. Ukraine (Bochkarova, Kalitovska, Shulika) 3.26.565
3. Germany (Becker, Joos, Sontheimer) 3.28.511
4. Belarus (Amialyusik, Papko, Sharakova) 3.29.878
5. Russia (Chulkova, Romanyuta, Chalykh) 3.30.320
6. Netherlands (Binnendijk, Van Dijk, Van Hage) 3.31.596
7. Belgium (Arys, Daams, D'Hoore) 3.35.594

Dan Hunt keeps time on his team on their way to Gold.

Belgium

Belarus

Holland

Germany

Russia