The track programme at the 2024 Paris Olympics has barely begun and already records are starting to fall. On Tuesday evening local time, in the first round of the men’s team pursuit competition, the Australian squad smashed the existing world record and confirmed themselves as favourites for gold.
A day earlier, on Monday evening, the Aussie men set the fastest time in qualifying with a 3:42.958, less than a second behind the world record set by Italy in their gold-medal-winning ride at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Australia would go on to face Italy in their first round ride on Tuesday.
The Aussies had the Italians covered from the very start, and only extended their lead over the course of 4 km in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome. By the end of the heat they’d put two and a half seconds into the reigning Olympic champions, earning themselves a berth in the gold medal race. Most impressively, the Australian quartet of Sam Welsford, Kelland O’Brien, Conor Leahy, and Oliver Bleddyn had posted a time of 3:40.730, slashing 1.3 seconds off the Italians’ world record from three years earlier.
Australia will now face off against Great Britain on Wednesday evening Paris time for the gold medal. Team GB qualified second-fastest then beat Denmark by less than a second in their first round clash to earn a shot at gold.
“I think it will be fast tomorrow,” said Australia’s Sam Welsford of the upcoming gold-medal race. “I think it might not be as fast because we had bit of a slipstream coming into the last two laps [as they closed in on Italy – ed.], but I think with the conditions again, and with the level of the Olympic final, you’re going to find that extra boost. And I think they’ll come out. The Brits will come out really well, and we just have to try answer.”
Australia will start the final as the gold-medal favourites, their first round time being nearly a second and a half faster than Great Britain’s. The Aussie team is out to make amends for a frustrating Tokyo campaign three years ago in which an equipment failure saw Alex Porter crash during the early rounds. Australia rallied to take the bronze medal, but the team was left disappointed.
Should they win the gold medal on Wednesday, they’ll be the first Australian men’s team pursuit squad to do so since the combination of Graeme Brown, Brett Lancaster, Brad McGee, and Luke Roberts back at the 2004 Games in Athens. Team GB – a long-time rival for Australia – won the next three Olympic titles (Beijing, London, and Rio), with Italy winning in Tokyo.
In the women’s team pursuit, meanwhile, New Zealand has made an emphatic start to the competition, narrowly missing a world record in qualifying. The team of Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman, Nicole Shields, and Ally Wollaston set the fastest time on Tuesday evening, their 4:04.679 less than half a second slower than the current world record, set by Germany when they won the gold medal in Tokyo.
Team USA, headlined by new Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner and Chloe Dygert, was next-fastest, with Great Britain and Italy making up the top four going into the first round on Wednesday afternoon. The winner of USA and Great Britain will race for gold against the winner of New Zealand vs Italy, with the loser in each contest getting a chance at bronze.
This is only the fourth time the women’s team pursuit has been contested at the Olympics with Great Britain winning the first two editions (London and Rio) before Germany took gold in 2021.
Based on the Aussie men’s first round performance, and the New Zealand women’s qualifying time, it seems likely we haven’t seen the last team pursuit world record from the Paris Olympics.
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