Chris Hoy made up for his disappointment in the men’s sprint by winning the men’s kerin, while Victoria Pendleton had to settle for third in the women’s sprint.
In the Omnium Shane Archbold moved New Zealand from bridesmaid to bride, with a resounding victory ahead of Ho-Sung Cho. The Kiwi won his fourth omnium, since taking the sport up in November, with 15 points; under half of Cho’s. Taking no less than three victories, a third, fourth and fifth; it was plain sailing to New Zealand’s first gold of the event.
Anastasiya Chulkova made it the first gold medal for Russia in the women’s scratch race ahead of ,2008 Kerin champion, Jennie Reed. Chulkova looked like she might make a lap on the group; after staying away for most of the race and, despite being pulled back towards the end, won by a convincing margin.
As ever the kerin was the race to watch and it most certainly didn’t disappoint with plenty of spills in the final. The normal pushing and shoving had been done, but on the run up to the line Spaniard Juan Peralta Gascon lost his balance taking out two other riders. Pride meant the downed riders made a mad dash for the line, some without their bikes. Despite having a large splinter piercing his calf, Azizulhasani Awang made it across the line to take third, before being carried away on a stretcher.
Last order of the evening was the women’s sprint where Anna Meares took her second gold of the weekend. The Aussie beat Olympic Champion Pendleton in the semi final, but was taken to a third race by Shuang Guo. The third race was a tense battle between the two, with Meares going out early and Guo having to chase her down. Meares managed to holding off the Chinese bearing down on her to cross the line first.
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