By Rob Jones in Beijing The third day of track competition saw the Brits continue their dominance on...
Rebecca Romero on her gold medal pursuit ride. (Image credit: Casey Gibson)
By Rob Jones in Beijing
The third day of track competition saw the Brits continue their dominance on the boards. In the one medal final event - the women's individual pursuit - Great Britain finished one - two, with world champion Rebecca Romero taking the gold and Wendy Houvenaghel the silver. Lesya Kalitovska of the Ukraine won the bronze medal over Alison Shanks of New Zealand.
Romero started fast in the 3,000 metre race, and then cruised home to win in 3:28.321, well off Sarah Ulmer's record of 3:24.537, set at the Athens Games four years ago. Her winning margin was just over two seconds, but initially, she didn't realize that she had won, gesturing the question to support staff. Once she realized that she had, indeed, taken the gold medal, Romero pumped her fist and then headed to the rail to be mobbed by her family.
"Right now, I'm trying to hold it together; what an immense achievement. I had to search deep inside, and fight for this, and to do what I knew I was capable of," said Romero. "Wendy gave me a challenge all the way. We did it together, we filled the top two spots. Two years ago, we said it would be us two."
