Meares and McCulloch set record in women's team sprint
Australian duo Anna Meares (back) and Kaarle McCulloch are pictured at the start of the team sprint (Image credit: AFP)
Anna Meares and Kaarle McCulloch of Australia set a new world record in the women's team sprint with a time of 32.828, in qualifying on Friday. It marked the first world record set at the new Olympic Velodrome in London.
The Australian’s closest rivals from Great Britain set a new British record of 32.966, and qualified in second place. The two nations will ride off in the gold/silver race later this evening, while China will race France for the bronze medal.
Meares and McCulloch set a time of 18.510 for their first lap, with Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish posting a time of 18.855.
"This is the best possible outcome we could be having: an Australia-British final. This is the closest thing to what will happen in the Olympic Games, racing them in the final. So tonight, win or lose, we will get a lot out of this," said Meares.
The Olympic test event doubles up as the final round of the UCI World Cup.
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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
