Jack Carlin produced a brace of sensational rides in the Men’s Team Sprint to lead Great Britain to an excellent silver medal – and becoming the first Scot to claim a cycling medal at Paris 2024.
After yesterday’s qualifying performance, which saw Carlin recoup 0.7 seconds in the final lap to secure second and seeding for this afternoon’s key First Round, the British trio of Carlin, Ed Lowe and Hamish Turnbull faced a testy German outfit for a spot in the medal finals.
With almost nothing separating the teams after both Lowe and Turnbull peeled off, the Scot produced a mega final lap to pull out four tenths of a second on the German opponents and secure a place in the Gold Medal Final – breaking the 42 second barrier, and only a tenth of a second from a World Record.
That would secure at least a silver medal, and Carlin’s third career at an Olympic Games.
A final against the Flying Dutch outfit would ensue, with the Harrie Lavreysen-led trident breaking the World Record in their First Round ride.
The Dutch would produce another excellent start, quickly racing out to over a half-second lead, as they would break another World Record, becoming the first ever team to break 41 seconds in this event.
It would mean silver for the British trio, shoring up an excellent start to the Carlin’s sophmore Olympiad.
It's silver for GB in the men's team sprint! 🥈
The Netherlands were just unstoppable. They've broken their own world record in winning gold 🔥#BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Ph7VXasUVy
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 6, 2024
On a sensational silver, the Scotsman said:
“It’s special tonight because we’ve done it in front of our friends and family. Ed and Hamish have stepped up massively, and have dealt with the pressures of an Olympic Games, and I’m proud of them both.
“It’s a young team, Hamish is 25 and Ed is 21 next week, I’ll be 31 at the next games so it’ll probably be my last one maybe. I’m feeling confident over the next four years, we’ll take some time to decompress, as the Dutch are an ageing team so I think there’s a real opportunity to be walking away one level higher next time.”
Carlin will have two more events to look forward to, with Paisley man aiming for success in the Sprint and Keirin.
“The legs are feeling great, don’t think they’ve ever felt better, so I’m excited!”
The Men’s Sprint gets underway tomorrow morning from 11:45. Watch live on Discovery+