Carlin seals chance to go for individual sprint gold

By Paul Eddison in Paris

JACK Carlin will have a chance at bringing home a second medal of Paris 2024 after he booked his place in the semi-finals of the men’s sprint.

But the Paisley sprinter looked as though his hopes had been ended after losing a second straight quarter-final race to Japan’s Kaiya Ota.

In two feisty battles, it was the Japanese rider who came out on top each time, initially wrapping up the quarter final.

However, Ota was then relegated for an infringement in the second race, deemed to have moved into Carlin’s line, setting up a decider.

Given the opportunity, Carlin was never going to let it slip, and triumphed in another close race.

That sees him through to the semi-finals with Dutch duo Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland – in the team that beat Carlin and co to team sprint gold on Tuesday – and Australia’s Matthew Richardson.

He will look to match, or better, the bronze medal he brought home in this event three years ago in Tokyo.

Carlin’s teammate Hamish Turnbull narrowly missed out on joining him in the semis and guaranteeing a medal for Team GB, as he was pipped by Hoogland in a decider.

Also in the evening, Team GB’s newest track sprint star Emma Finucane claimed bronze in the women’s keirin, to go with the gold she won in the team sprint.

Tipped by some for a hat-trick of sprint titles at Paris 2024, the 21-year-old from Carmarthen needed a photo finish to sneak through the semi-finals.

And, like Carlin, she took advantage of that second chance by taking bronze in the final.

Racing alongside fellow team sprint gold medallist Katy Marchant, Finucane tried to go from a long way out to surprise reigning world champion Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand.

But the Kiwi has made this most unpredictable of events her forte, and was too strong for Finucane, with the Netherlands’ Hetty van de Wouw pipping Finucane to silver.

But despite missing out on a second gold, Finucane was thrilled to have added another medal at her maiden Olympics.

She said: “That bronze medal means everything to me. It was so, so hard but it was worth it. I think I went a lap too early, but I knew if I didn’t go then I couldn’t wait on longer on this track.

“I did everything I could to get a medal in my first Olympics and to have a gold and a bronze and the sprint felt to go is such a surreal moment.”

Finucane is appearing in her first Olympics, having won the world title in the individual sprint last year in Glasgow, and she explained that she is already looking forward to adding more hardware to her temporary bedroom.

She added: “I’ve been sleeping with the gold medal under my pillow like the tooth fairy. I’m sharing with Katy, so I was like ‘hey Olympic gold medallist’. I’ll sleep with the bronze under my pillow as well.”

Marchant just missed out on the medals, finishing in fourth behind Finucane – who will now turn her attentions to the women’s individual sprint.

That means a quick turnaround, with the qualifying rounds beginning on Friday for an event that takes place over three days.

Meanwhile, in the men’s omnium, Ethan Hayter could not find his usual form and missed out on a place on the podium.

A double world champion in this event, Hayter was took team pursuit silver on Wednesday, running out of gas right at the end of the gold medal race against Australia.

In that race, he was asked to dig deeper than usual, blowing up with about 300 metres to go.

And returning for his preferred event – where he likes to batter people’s heads in, as he puts it – the roles were very much reversed.

Home favourite Benjamin Thomas took gold after an entertaining points race, while Hayter could only manage eight, winning the elimination race but being unusually passive in the other three events.

He explained: “I’ve not felt myself all day. Normally the omnium is my forte. In elite omniums since Tokyo, I’ve won every single one – without blowing my own trumpet.

“Normally I get better each race, tonight I didn’t feel myself. It was obviously very hard yesterday, going so deep. And emotionally, afterwards, to recover. I felt like I was ready but for whatever reason I wasn’t myself.

“I’ve been the favourite for every omnium for the last few years, so I’m used to (being marked). Normally I take the race on and dictate it. I get everyone playing my game but today I was on the back foot, getting my head kicked in.

“I didn’t want to be passive, that’s not my style. In an omnium I take it on and batter everyone’s heads in.”

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