The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING, August 19) -- Great Britain dominated the Men's and Women's Sprint finals and Argentina rode away with gold in the Men's Madison on the final day of Olympic competition at the Laoshan Velodrome on Tuesday, August 19.
With former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Queen of Spain watching from the grandstands, it was an exciting night of racing to close Cycling Track events at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Men's Madison
Juan Esteban Curuchet of Argentina used his tactical savvy to win the third of 10 sprints and then gain a lap on the field to win the gold for the two-man Argentine squad that also included partner Walter Fernando Perez.
Joan Llaneras helped Spain gain a lap to claim silver with partner Antonio Tauler. Llaneras also won gold in the Men's Points Race.
Mikhail Ignatyev and Alexei Markov helped Russia gain a lap and take bronze. Ignatyev won the Olympic gold medal in the Men's Points Race in 2004.
Men's Sprint
Chris Hoy of Great Britain won his third gold medal of the Beijing Games with victory in the Men's Sprint. Taking silver in the all-British final was Jason Kenny, also from Great Britain, a 20-year-old who also won gold in the Men's Team Sprint.
Mickael Bourgain of France out-kicked Germany's Maximilian Levy to take bronze. Pre-race favorite Theo Bos of the Netherlands, silver medalist in the Men's Sprint at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, settled into seventh place.
Women's Sprint
Three-time Sprint world champion Victoria Pendleton of Great Britain won her first career Olympic gold medal while Australia's Anna Meares claimed her third career Olympic medal taking silver. She won bronze in the Sprint and gold in the 500m Time Trial in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
China's Guo Shuang rode to bronze ahead of Willy Kanis of the Netherlands. In the semifinals, Guo was relegated after winning the decider when the race jury ruled she entered Meares' sprinting lane.
