Team GB’s Jack Carlin has won a bronze medal in the men’s track sprint after beating Dutch rival Jeffrey Hoogland in three thrilling races.
The Scot took silver in the team sprint earlier this week and won another medal this afternoon in Paris, but the race caused a lot of controversy.
After Hoogland won the first race, he was on par in the second race, until Carlin collided with the Dutchman in the deciding race. It was an exciting wait for the jury’s decision.
The Briton was actually lucky to make it to the final stage of the event, having entered the bronze medal fight with a yellow card after a crash in an earlier round.
But the officials let him go and the Scot took full advantage in the deciding match by holding off Hoogland and taking home bronze.
Team GB’s Jack Carlin has won a bronze medal in the men’s sprint
The Scot backed up his team sprint silver medal earlier this week with another medal in Paris this afternoon, but the race was shrouded in controversy.
The first race in the best-of-three competition started at slightly more than a walking pace
As the pair sprinted to the finish, the Scot timed his gambit perfectly and crossed the finish line a fraction of a second ahead of the Dutchman.
Today’s victory was a redemption for Carlin’s defeat by the Dutch team of Hoogland in that golden event on Tuesday.
It was Britain’s seventh track cycling medal at this summer’s Olympic Games, the same as three years ago in Tokyo.
The first race in the best-of-three contest started at a walking pace, with the two drivers trying to gauge each other. The slow nature of the contest added to the tension.
When Hoogland finally put an arrow on the line, he quickly gained a lead over his British opponent, but Carlin showed that he still had enough in him for the final round.
As the duo sprinted towards the finish, the Scot timed his attack perfectly and crossed the finish line a fraction of a second ahead of the Dutchman.
Hoogland still had a mountain to climb and had to win the last two sprints twice in a row to secure a podium spot.
Jack Carlin started the second race in first place and the run-up to the final lap was much faster than in the first race, with the Briton choosing to maintain a high pace.
But the exciting contest would inevitably lead to a thrilling deciding race and Hoogland followed the script and passed Carlin with ease to win the race.
Carlin held his head in his hands after a collision appeared to lead to disqualification
The officials let him go and the Scot took full advantage in the deciding match to hold off Hoogland and take home bronze
After a long wait, the Scot had to prepare for another attempt at the deciding match
Today’s win was a redemption for Carlin’s defeat to Hoogland’s Dutch team in that gold medal event on Tuesday
When the final match started, two hours had passed since the first confrontation between the two and the race followed the cat-and-mouse theme of the first.
Then disaster struck for the Briton when he collided with Hoogland with just two laps to go. The incident seemed harmless.
Carlin entered the bronze medal match with a yellow card after falling in an earlier round, so he was very lucky to advance to the next round.
There followed a tense wait for the jury’s decision, which ultimately gave him a lifeline.
Carlin was resigned and sat with his head in his hands after the crash, taking a few deep breaths and getting ready for the repeat of the final.
The Scot started ahead of the Dutchman and started the important race bravely. As the race progressed, Hoogland seemed to gain more and more momentum.
But Carlin held on during a thrilling final round to surprisingly win bronze.
