The fourth track cycling session of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in the velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines saw Benjamin Thomas (France) win the men’s omnium and Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand) crowned in the women’s keirin.
After the three first events of the men’s omnium (scratch race, tempo race and elimination race), Belgium’s Fabio van den Bossche went into the deciding event, the points race, as the leader, with 106 points. France’s Benjamin Thomas followed with 98 points, ahead of the reigning UCI World Champion Iuri Leitao (Portugal).
With a masterful ride, Thomas took the lead with 40 laps remaining, to the delight of the crowds. But the Frenchman hit the deck 15 laps later! He got back up with an extraordinary cool in a suffocating atmosphere, won another sprint and resisted Leitao's assault to seal the Olympic Games gold medal, at home, with a tally of 164 points. Leitao (153 pts) took silver and Van den Bossche (131 pts) bronze.
“The planets were aligned, nothing could happen to me today," reacted Benjamin Thomas, moved to tears. “I’ve experienced everything on the track, defeats, victories... And it makes sense now. I set out to finish on the podium. What really made the difference was the crowd. It turned the others off and I was on fire. We woke up the volcano! It's the dream of a lifetime, Olympic Champion, it's too big for me!”
Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell and Lauriane Genest both went out as early as the quarter-finals of the keirin, illustrating the volatility of this track specialty. Germany’s Lea Friedrich, two-time UCI World Champion in the keirin, missed the cut in the semi-finals, along with France’s Mathilde Gros.
In the final, Ellesse Andrews took matters in her own hand to avoid any traps. The Kiwi’s speed and resilience allowed the reigning UCI World Champion to power to the gold medal, one better than the silver she won at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Hetty van de Wouw (the Netherlands) surged at the last moment to finish 2nd ahead of Great Britain’s Emma Finucane.
“This one's gonna take a very long time to process but I’m so proud,” Ellesse Andrews celebrated. “In the crowd, we have so many family, friends, supporters, and I’m so glad that they were here to watch this event tonight. I’ve raced on this track a couple of times before. I’ve made mistakes in the past. So I think it was really good coming today having that experience and understanding how I need to make it work for me.”
The day also laid the stage for the semi-finals and finals of the men’s sprint, on Friday. Dutchmen Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland as well as Australia’s Matthew Richardson and Great Britain’s Jack Carlin are qualified for the semi-finals.
Results available here