World records tumble at Olympic Velodrome

Riders set 6 world records in 2 different events on super fast track made of Siberian pine wood

I / London August 03, 2012, 9:48 IST

It didn't take long for the Olympic cyclists to learn that the London Velodrome track is one of the fastest in the world.

On the opening day of the six-day track competition yesterday, riders set six world records in two different events on the super fast track made of Siberian pine wood.

Chinese and British women improved the team's sprint world record three times in the space of an hour on Thursday, before Britain broke its own men's team pursuit world record with a time of 3 minutes, 52.499 seconds during the qualification round.

The British team of Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy, Steven Burke and Peter Kennaugh lowered the mark of 3:53.295 that they set at the world championships in Melbourne, Australia, earlier this year.

The reigning Olympic champions were cheered on by a capacity crowd of 6,000 fans at the Velodrome that included cyclist Mark Cavendish, Prince William and his wife, Kate.

"We wanted to qualify with the fastest time," Thomas said. "We can still tidy up our race. We knew we could do 3:52. We can go faster."

Britain then broke its own men's team sprint world record with a time of 42.747 seconds to reach the final against France.

Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy lowered the mark of 42.914 that Germany had set on Dec. 1, 2011, at a World Cup meet in Cali, Colombia.

In the final, the British squad broke the record again, riding in 42.600 seconds to win its second straight Olympic gold medal in the race, the most explosive event of the Olympic track program.