Tuesday morning saw the first Scottish success on the boards of the Izu Velodrome at the Olympics with Katie Archibald, Neah Evans and Jack Carlin all producing impressive rides that would result in a trip to the podium.
Debutant Evans joined her Archibald in the quartet for the Women’s Team Pursuit, a change from the line-up used in qualifying, the move paying off for Team GB as the four riders set a new world record of 4.06.748 in what was effectively a semi-final against a strong USA squad, led by Chloe Dygert.
An innocuous coming together happened once Team GB crossed the finish line and were spinning down, Archibald clipping the wheel of Evans, both Scots sliding onto the apron, however other than a speedsuit, no equipment or bones were damaged, and the pair laughed it off.
However, the theme of the day in Japan seemed to breaking records, as the German squad followed on breaking that GB world record by over half a second – further lowering the record they had set in qualifying to set up an intriguing final.
Team GB started the final very well with Archibald launching strongly out of the gate, but it quickly became apparent that the Germans would replicate Team GB’s achievement at London 2012 and break the world record in every session, as they rode to a fantastic time of 4.04.242, beating their world record from earlier in the day by a further two seconds.
Despite the German domination it was still a strong ride from the GB team, with Evans secuing an Olmypic medal at her first attempt, Archibald adding to the gold she won at Rio 2016.
Of the team’s performance, Neah Evans was quite conciliatory:
“We're defending champions, there's big expectation for British cycling because we do have such a strong reputation, but there are so many strong nations that came out fighting. It wasn't to be this time, but we'll be back in Paris.”
The Men’s Team Sprint was the other medal event of the day, and one where we’ve seen plenty of Scottish success down the years, with the likes of Sir Chris Hoy, Craig MacLean and Callum Skinner all winning accolades at Olympic level; these Olympics saw Paisley’s Jack Carlin act as man two, the leadout man for Britain’s most successful Olympian, Jason Kenny.
The Team Sprint was expected to be dominated by the Dutch squad, who set an Olympic Record in qualifying, however Team GB were only a tenth off that trio, which may have fuelled some thoughts of a potential upset by the British squad.
The first round saw the trio face a strong German outfit, who Team GB comfortably beat, setting an Olympic Record in the process, before the Dutch followed suit moments later to set up an exciting finale.
That final run saw Carlin and lead off man Ryan Owens power out of the gates, and such was the quality of their offering, Jason Kenny struggled to hold the wheel – ultimately that would come back to bite them in their quest for gold, as Kenny couldn’t take advantage of the ferocious pace being set by his countrymen. In the end they couldn’t match a Dutch squad that broke the Olympic Record for the third time in the day, only a tenth of a second off their world record set in Berlin in 2020.
None-the-less, like Evans, Carlin collected silverware of the highest order at his maiden Olympics Games, and said afterwards:
As a result of their strong silver showing, Jason Kenny becomes the most decorated British Olympian outright, overtaking fellow sprinter Sir Chris Hoy.
Jack Carlin will have to reset quickly as he starts his Men’s Sprint campaign tomorrow morning, whilst Katie Archibald will be afforded some much-needed rest before Friday morning sees her and Laura Kenny compete in the Madison.
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