By Hannah Blackwell
Wales’ Olympic champion Emma Finucane and her fellow Paris gold medal-winners Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant stormed to more gold for Great Britain in the women’s team sprint at the Cycling World Championships.
The trio defeated the Netherlands with a time of 45.949 in Ballerup, Denmark.
The GB team clinched the gold medal in this summer’s Paris Olympics – Britain’s first women’s team sprint side to do so – and are now the first British women’s squad to become sprint world champions since 2008.
TRIO OF DREAMS @BritishCycling:
✨Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane ✨
🥇 at the @Paris2024 @Olympics
🥇 at the 2024 Tissot UCI Track World Championships #TrackCycling #Ballerup2024 pic.twitter.com/YMYyopsplR— UCI Track Cycling (@UCI_Track) October 16, 2024
Finucane said: “It’s not just obviously us three on the start line. It’s been such a work in progress.
“We’ve had many coaches, many nutritionists, psychologists, doctors, a team behind the team for women’s sprinting.
“After winning the Olympics, then coming here and finishing it off with a gold medal, after silver and bronze, it’s just testament to everyone back at home and the women’s sprint [squad] in general. It’s really exciting.”
It's GOLD for Emma Finucane! 🥇
What a year she's having. 👏#BBCCycling #Wales #GB pic.twitter.com/dg33Y3l0uv
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) October 16, 2024
Marchant said: “Today was a tough day on the bike and perhaps a little bit harder than winning an Olympic gold medal for different reasons but I’m really glad we showed up today. We’re absolutely over the moon.”
Capewell added: “It’s the kind of thing that as kids growing up in sport, they’re the two big things to aim for… the reality is very much a dream come true. It feels like the icing on the cake and the cake was pretty damn good in the summer so that’s topped it off quite nicely.”
The men’s team sprint squad of Harry Ledingham-Horn, Hayden Norris and Joe Truman finished fourth.
Olympic champions… now WORLD CHAMPIONS 🙌
Sophie Capewell, Katy Marchant and Emma Finucane have done it again in women’s team sprint 🥇🤩#Ballerup2024 pic.twitter.com/pH1vmG4zOR
— Team GB (@TeamGB) October 16, 2024
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