BRIT SUCCESS OFFERS OLYMPIC HOPE
Britain's Olympic medal hopes got a timely boost this weekend as Chris Hoy gave GB their ninth gold medal at the Track Cycling World Championships yesterday.
The 32-year-old successfully defended his keirin title to add to the sprint medal on Friday and ensure that GB surpassed last year's haul of seven gold medals in Palma.
Great Britain's medal total, which also includes two silver medals, means that they have won more gold medals than all the other nations combined.
"To have so many successes in Olympics events - that'll
be great for the team.
"I don't believe we've actually peaked yet; there's more to come."
In the women's keirin, reigning champion Victoria Pendleton
missed out on her third gold
The 27-year-old, who had previously succeeded in the women's sprint and team sprint, got her tactics wrong in the keirin final, finishing second behind the USA's Jennie Reed.
A disappointed but upbeat Pendleton told the BBC: "I missed the move and had to make a second attack.
"I used a slightly bigger gear in the final, but I lost my balance and rhythm for a split second in the back straight.
"I really wanted to win that and I thought I had the legs for it.
"It should have been mine. I'd better get it back next time!"
The results come as a huge boost to Great Britain's medal prospects at this summer's Olympic Games although performance chief Dave Brailsford has warned against complacency.
But earlier Brailsford told 5 Live: "Looking at the
medal table it looks like we've romped away with things.
"But some events could have gone either way and other nations are closing the gap. The Olympics will be much harder.
We've all worked long and hard for the world championships and it's great to get the results we've seen," added Brailsford.
"We put the riders first and that's the most important
thing. It's not about me or the staff. We don't own the performances, the
riders do and they take the ownership of what they do.
"With that comes responsibility, obviously, but it
seems to have been very successful for us.
"But we have seen the Danes and Aussies catch us up and the Dutch, who haven't performed as expected here, are still stepping up, along with the French."
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