Olympic champions Laura Trott and Dani King celebrated a third successive Track Cycling World Championships women’s team pursuit title as Elinor Barker savoured her first rainbow jersey in Minsk yesterday.
On day two of competition at the Minsk Arena, there was a second medal for Becky James, two historic medals for Ireland’s Martyn Irvine, disappointment for Britain’s men’s team sprint squad and a seemingly predictable victory for Britain’s women’s team pursuit trio.
A fifth World Championships title in six years means Trott and King are unbeaten in the three-woman, three-lap event since February 2011, when representing a junior British team at the Manchester Track World Cup. They have won three world titles in three attempts and London 2012 Olympic gold in that time.
Barker, the 18-year-old schoolgirl from Cardiff, slotted in seamlessly to the space vacated by Joanna Rowsell, who opted to focus on the road after combining with Trott and King to clock six successive world records in winning world and Olympic gold in 2012.
In the end it appeared a simple win. After qualifying almost two seconds clear of Australia, Britain finished the final in three minutes 18.140 seconds, with Annette Edmondson, Ashlee Ankudinoff and Melissa Hoskins 1.773secs adrift.
Three-time Olympic champion Jason Kenny, Trott’s boyfriend, missed out on adding a world title in the men’s team sprint as Britain finished sixth.
Philip Hindes, Kenny and Kian Emadi clocked 44.270secs as Germany’s Rene Enders, Stefan Botticher and Maximilian Levy won gold in 43.495. New Zealand were second and France third.
Hindes and Kenny won London 2012 gold with Sir Chris Hoy, who is on sabbatical as he considers his future, with 20-year-old Emadi taking the Scot’s place in his first senior World Championships.
Los Angeles in 2005 was the last time Britain’s men won the team sprint at a World Championships, when Hoy combined with Jamie Staff and Jason Queally, meaning that curiously Kenny has two Olympic titles but none in the annual global event.
James, who won women’s team sprint bronze with Vicky Williamson on day one, added an individual third place in the women’s 500m time-trial.
Two non-Olympic events featured success for Ireland’s Irvine, who claimed individual pursuit silver behind Australia’s Michael Hepburn.
An hour later Irvine went one better with gold in the men’s scratch race. Owain Doull of Britain was fifth.