The American duo of Jennifer Valente and Lily Williams looked to continue their strong Olympic showing after winning the gold in the women’s team pursuit. It was Italy’s Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini who produced a surprised win in the women’s Madison.
Great Britain’s Elinor Barker and Neah Evans won the last sprint lap to sneak into second, while the Netherlands pair of Maike van der Duin and Lisa van Belle hung on for bronze. The Americans won several sprint laps, but it wouldn’t be enough as they finished just off the podium
The women’s Madison is one of the more confusing events held in the track cycling discipline. It is a relay race for 120 laps where every 10th lap a sprint is held. The scoring is a bit confusing those not familiar where the top four receive points, with the top team receiving five points, the second receiving four, the third receives two and the fourth receives one. If a team can manage to lap the field, they receive 20 points, a difficult feat.
The strategy is to win or place in as many sprints as possible while recovering in the non-sprint laps or expend maximum effort lapping the field.
The Dutch made the first real move of the race when they lapped the field about midway through the race. It may have been a premature move as the pair looked tired for much of the back-half of the race, which opened the door for other teams.
Italy made a late attack to lap the field after the eighth sprint and won three of the 12 sprints for the top performance of 37 points, an impressive six more than Great Britain. A stunning accomplishment because it was just the second time the pair had rode together in the Madison.
Great Britain set the tone on the sprint laps by winning the first lap. They were the most consistent duo in the sprint laps and capitalized on the double-points-last lap to secure the silver medal. There was a small battle for bronze between the Brits and Americans, but the Brits powered ahead in the final lap while the Americans faded.
The Americans did well in the sprints and their consistency had them in second at the midway mark of the race. They placed in eight of the 12 sprint laps, but it wouldn’t be enough for the podium with two teams pulling off the 20-point lap. Their fourth-place finish was improvement for Valente who finished ninth in Tokyo.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.