Keirin, Women

Darya Shmelyova of the ROC, and bronze medallist at the 2019 UCI World Championships, automatically qualified for the keirin quarter-finals from her heat, while some of the other fancied riders had to qualify via the repêchage.

Sarah Lee, Hong Kong’s 2018 Word Championship silver medallist, and Australia’s 2019 world silver medallist Kaarle McCulloch both qualified for the quarters from the same repêchage. Germany’s reigning world champion Emma Hinze had already collected a team sprint silver in Tokyo, but she made hard work in qualifying for the keirin quarter-finals, finishing second in her heat. Her sprint partner Lea-Sophie Friedrich won her heat against Shmelyova.

Britain’s Katy Marchant was relegated to fifth in her opening heat for entering the sprinter’s lane when the opponent was already there. She won her repêchage, however, and went through to the quarter-finals. China’s recently crowned sprint champion Gong Jinjie qualified for the quarters while her team-mate Bao Shanju finished last in her repêchage. Shmelyova, McCulloch and Hinze were all eliminated at the semi-final stage

The final was a thrilling six lap race and Dutch rider Shanne Braspennincx, who led from the front, won by 0.061 from New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews, with Canada’s Lauriane Genest taking the bronze medal. It was a remarkable victory for Braspennincx who suffered a heart attack in 2015 and now was an Olympic champion.