Skip to main content
Part of complete coverage on

Pendleton caps golden night for GB at Olympic Velodrome

August 3, 2012 -- Updated 2040 GMT (0440 HKT)
Victoria Pendleton proudly shows off the gold medal she claimed in the women's keirin.
Victoria Pendleton proudly shows off the gold medal she claimed in the women's keirin.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Britain win two gold medals on second night of competition in track cycling
  • Victoria Pendleton takes women's keirin after disappointment of team sprint
  • GB men's team pursuit squad break world record to beat Australia in final
  • GB women's team pursuit squad beat their own world mark in qualifying

(CNN) -- Victoria Pendleton rounded off another night of triumph for hosts Great Britain in the Olympic Velodrome with a storming ride to take gold in the women's keirin Friday.

Pendleton suffered bitter disappointment on the first night of finals when she and partner Jess Varnish were disqualified in the women's team sprint for a technical infringement, but made amends with the second gold of her Games career.

The 31-year-old Pendleton powered to the front with over a lap to go and held off a determined challenge from China's Guo Shuang to claim an emotional victory.

"My legs were still good from last night. I really wanted to show what I've got. It turned out okay, I guess," she said.

Left to right: Denmark's Lasse Norman Hansen, Michael Morkov, Rasmus Christian Quaade and Casper von Flosach prepare to compete in the men's team pursuit track cycling event on Friday, August 3. Check out Day 6 of competition from Thursday, August 2. Left to right: Denmark's Lasse Norman Hansen, Michael Morkov, Rasmus Christian Quaade and Casper von Flosach prepare to compete in the men's team pursuit track cycling event on Friday, August 3. Check out Day 6 of competition from Thursday, August 2.
Day 7: The best photos of the Olympics
HIDE CAPTION
<<
<
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
>
>>
Day 7: The best photos Day 7: The best photos

Lee Wai-Sze of Hong Kong took a surprise bronze with Pendleton's arch-rival Anna Meares of Australia out of the medals.

Pendleton will get one more chance for golden glory when she defends her women's sprint title.

She followed Britain's men's team pursuit squad on to the track after the quartet of Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Peter Kennaugh had broken their own world record to take gold by beating arch-rivals Australia in the final.

Tour de France winner and Olympic time trial champion Bradley Wiggins was in the 6,000 capacity crowd to watch his GB compatriots defend their Beijing crown.

Wiggins had been part of that team, which also set a world record, and the 2012 version did not disappoint either.

Clancy and Thomas were picking up their second successive golds in the event as they crossed the line in a time of three minutes 51.659 seconds.

Australia were just under three seconds adrift with New Zealand winning the bronze medal after beating Russia in their run off.

There was promise of more gold for the rampant home team in the women's team pursuit where the trio of Laura Trott, Joanna Rowsell and Dani King broke their own world record in qualifying.

Their time of three minutes 15.669 seconds, edged their own mark for the 3,000m event set at the world championships earlier this year.

It is the seventh world record to be set in the velodrome and the fifth for the hosts, who won the men's team sprint on the first night.

ADVERTISEMENT
Part of complete coverage on
August 13, 2012 -- Updated 1353 GMT (2153 HKT)
The moment that Team GB's Mo Farah won the 10,000 meters was a wonderful collision of electricity.
August 13, 2012 -- Updated 1534 GMT (2334 HKT)
His blistering pace and larger-than-life antics made him the king of the track in London, and bolstered his claims to be a "living legend."
August 14, 2012 -- Updated 0944 GMT (1744 HKT)
Disappointment for Nigeria's Muizat Ajoke Odumosu, who came last in the 400m hurdles final, London 2012 Olympics.
The Olympics are generally won and lost long before the opening ceremony cauldron is touched by fire.
August 12, 2012 -- Updated 0738 GMT (1538 HKT)
Fans of the home side, Team GB, wave Union Jack flags during the Olympic Games
CNN's Richard Quest believes the London Games will be regarded as having brought the Olympics concept home.
August 11, 2012 -- Updated 1633 GMT (0033 HKT)
Strategist Alastair Campbell says he never imagined London 2012 would be quite the triumph it turned out to be.
August 14, 2012 -- Updated 2057 GMT (0457 HKT)
Award-winning director Danny Boyle celebrates the best of British music in London 2012's Olympic Closing Ceremony.
January 31, 2013 -- Updated 1452 GMT (2252 HKT)
From Usain Bolt's record-setting achievements to an unexpected Ugandan gold, London 2012 has provided a wide array of highlights.
August 13, 2012 -- Updated 0305 GMT (1105 HKT)
CNN's Amanda Davies recaps the London 2012 Olympics from the opening ceremony on July 27 to the finale on day 16.
August 12, 2012 -- Updated 1702 GMT (0102 HKT)
Mo Farah and Usain Bolt celebrate their success at the London 2012 Olympic Games by copying each other's
It's been just over two weeks since the Queen parachuted into London's Olympic Stadium, her apricot dress flapping in the breeze.
August 15, 2012 -- Updated 1214 GMT (2014 HKT)
When the world's top marathon runners bid to win Olympic gold, they would do well to draw inspiration from one of the greatest athletes in the history of track and field.
August 11, 2012 -- Updated 1633 GMT (0033 HKT)
Team GB supporters with their faces painted in Union Jack designs at the Olympic Stadium in London.
Alastair Campbell always thought London 2012 would be a success, but never imagined it would be quite the triumph it has turned out to be.
August 10, 2012 -- Updated 1021 GMT (1821 HKT)
Adrien Niyonshuti is unlikely to win an Olympic medal, and he will do well to even finish his event, but his story is surely one of the most inspirational.
August 10, 2012 -- Updated 1605 GMT (0005 HKT)
The colors of the Olympic Rings at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, August 2012.
Olympic fever has cheered up London and made it a more welcoming place, but will optimism be one of the legacies of the Games?
August 10, 2012 -- Updated 1825 GMT (0225 HKT)
Wojdan Shaherkani's Olympic debut was short, but sweet -- the Saudi judoka said competing at the Games was
London 2012 is the first Olympics to feature women in every national team, with Jacques Rogge hailing a "major boost for gender equality."
August 10, 2012 -- Updated 0040 GMT (0840 HKT)
An impoverished South Korean gymnast has not only struck Olympic gold, but also reaped a $444,000 donation in a veritable rags to riches tale.
August 9, 2012 -- Updated 0046 GMT (0846 HKT)
Britain's hero Jessica Ennis is set to cash in after winning heptathlon gold, but the poster girl of the 2012 Olympics says fame is not her motivation.
August 8, 2012 -- Updated 0746 GMT (1546 HKT)
China is rallying around fallen hurdler Liu Xiang after he failed to make it past the first-round heat for a second consecutive Olympics.
August 3, 2012 -- Updated 1930 GMT (0330 HKT)
The first woman to win Olympic gold almost died in a plane crash, but remarkably returned to run again for the U.S. in 1936.
August 7, 2012 -- Updated 1504 GMT (2304 HKT)
Don Paige could not bear to watch the race he knew he could win. The 1980 Moscow Olympics were the death of a dream for many athletes.
August 4, 2012 -- Updated 1421 GMT (2221 HKT)
Ricardo Blas Jr
While Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt grab the headlines, little-known athletes from around the world keep alive the original spirit of the Olympics.
Athletes spend years eating the right foods ... and then must resist the free fast food in the Olympic village. How do they do it?
ADVERTISEMENT