World Track Championships 2008

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Qualifying

The British pair of Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade delivered a World best time of 33.186 seconds to secure their place in the ride for gold/silver against the Chinese pair of Jinjie Gong and Lulu Zheng.

Pendleton and Reade clocked a speed of 54.239 km/hr for the two laps with Reade setting a blistering time for the first lap of 19.08 seconds with Pendleton seeming to struggle to stay on her wheel.

The Chinese pair rode off against the German team of Dana Gloss and Miriam Welte. Zheng and Gong clocked a time of 19.1 seconds for the first lap and completed the distance in a time of 33.943 seconds.

The ride for Bronze will be close, the French pair of Sandie Clair and Virginie Cueff qualified in a time of 34.165 seconds and they ride off against the Germans who qualified in 34.135 seconds.

In the other rides the Russian pair rode in a sub 35 second time, while the Italians and the team from Thailand finished 6^th and 7^th respectively. 

Finals

The British pair of Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade delivered another amazing ride to win the Team Sprint gold medal against the Chinese pair of Jinjie Gong and Lulu Zheng. The Chinese were ahead a little at the end of the first lap but the power and speed of Pendleton, made sure the British pair won consecutive World Championship winners jersey.  

Pendleton and Reade clocked a speed of 53.474 km/hr for the two laps with Reade was not as fast in the first lap, the gate was a little slow at releasing Reade which meant that Pendleton had to work extremely had to beat the Chinese.  

The Bronze medal was won by the German team of Dana Gloss and Miriam Welte. This was a great result for the young team. They had struggled through the World Cup events with injury due to a cracked frame and illness. They won the Bronze in a time of 34.036 seconds.

Final

Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade (GBR) were deserved winners of the Gold medal for a second year in a row. They could not be matched for speed and look set to dominate this event for many years. Reade said “I am ecstatic, we delivered a world best time again in the qualifying and in the final we went with a different gear so that we had something to play with. There was a technical fault at the gate, so I was still sat there momentarily when it should have released. So to win despite this was amazing.” "It is a massive achievement from me to come here and win, and also to get a personal best in my own lap as well. I feel like I am part of the team and me and Vicky have set a world record again. It is just unbelievable."

Pendleton was also very happy with their performance. “I was so excited over the last two days in anticipation of this event starting. My parents are here to watch and it is great to be able to share this with them. I'm really, really pleased," said Pendleton, ecstatic after successfully defending the first of her three jerseys. "I had a couple of injuries, as all athletes have in their careers, and it held me aback a little bit and I wasn't sure if I was on target [for the Beijing Olympic Games], but now I feel quite happy. I wasn't sure because I couldn't really feel my legs, but I know that's a good sign now! It's the hardest event; it's the one that I'm probably most nervous about because it's the one that's most important," said Pendleton. "Obviously I would love to retain my title and go into Beijing as somebody everybody else is watching rather than the other way around. "There would be a huge psychological advantage on my opponents if I was to win but with the nature of the sprint - as you saw Theo Bos go out just then," she added. "Anything can happen so you just have to focus on each race as it comes and with a little bit of luck, I think, make your way through the rounds."

Reade’s main cycling discipline is BMX and she leaves Manchester for the next round of competitions in Europe before the World Championship.

Dana Gloss and Miriam Welte (GER) was very happy with their Bronze medal; Gloss chatted after their win against the French. “We are so happy, after the crash in Sydney last year, it is so great to get back and be on the podium.”

Jinjie Gong and Lulu Zheng (CHN) were very happy with their medal. “It was close but in the end the British pair were much too strong today” said Gong

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