Elinor Barker and Neah Evans snatch Great Britain silver in Madison
The pair won the last of the 12 sprints to move about the Netherlands into silver behind gold medallists Italy.
Elinor Barker and Neah Evans won Olympic silver for Great Britain in the women’s Madison.
A big late charge from Barker saw Britain win the last of the 12 sprints in the 120-lap race and move above the Netherlands as Italy’s Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini celebrated gold.
Italy finished with 37 points to Britain’s 31 and the Netherlands’ 28.
The British pair had been on the attack from the off, winning the first sprint and staying in the medal positions for the rest of the race.
They took the most points of any team purely from the sprints, but Italy and the Netherlands both gained a lap on the field, picking up 20 points in the process.
Dame Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald became the first female Olympic champions at the Tokyo Games when the Madison made its debut in the women’s programme. Barker and Evans are the reigning world champions after their win in Glasgow last summer.
Evans said: “It’s an Olympic silver medal. That is fantastic.
“But as world champions we came in with really high expectations, we wanted to win and we felt we were in a really good position and there was an attack that went that we weren’t 100 per cent ready for and by the time we responded there was a different race dynamic.
“We gave it everything and I think on reflection we’ll be so proud of the ride we did. But at the same time when you come for gold it’s like, eurgh, not quite. But still, silver.”
Jack Carlin won an eventful individual sprint bronze for Great Britain, edging out Dutchman Jeffrey Hoogland in a deciding race that had to be restarted after the pair collided.
Carlin was already racing on a warning after his tetchy quarter-final with Kaiya Ota on Thursday, and raised his hand in apology after veering up the track and into Hoogland.
The commissaires decided there was no need for any punishment and the race was restarted, with Carlin having the power to hold off Hoogland down the straight to take his second medal of the week after team sprint silver.
