New Zealand cyclist Andrews wins women’s Olympic sprint gold
21-year-old outgunned German world record holder Lea Friedrich 2-0 in best-of-three final
Paris: New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews blasted to the women’s Olympic sprint title at the Paris velodrome on Sunday to go with her keirin gold medal.
The 21-year-old easily outgunned German world record holder Lea Friedrich 2-0 in the best-of-three final to claim her country’s first sprint gold since it was added to the Olympic programme in 2008.
British world champion Emma Finucane overpowered the Netherlands’ Hetty van de Wouw 2-0 to take the bronze.
Andrews upset Finucane 2-0 in the semi-finals and was always in charge against Friedrich, winning the first race by 0.095 and the second even more comfortably with a 0.624 margin.
Canadian defending champion Kelsey Mitchell was eliminated in the quarter-finals, then came eighth in the race-off for the minor places.
Both Andrews and Friedrich have been in sizzling form in Paris, each smashing Mitchell’s world record in qualifying.
Andrews achieved the feat first before Friedrich bettered it minutes later with a lightning-fast 10.029secs.