Pendleton Powers to Olympic Record

Yet another Olympic record for a British Cyclist, this time it was the turn of World Sprint Champion Victoria Pendleton who topped the Women's Sprint qualification times in 10.963s, 0.2s faster than China's Shuang Guo who recorded a time of 11.106s with Aussie superstar Anne Meares in third with 11.140s

Pendleton then made easy work of her 1/8 Final heat against Sakie Tsukuda of Japan, effortlessly crossing the line in 11.736s to progress to tomorrow's 1/4 Finals

Also through to the delight of the home crowd was Shuang Guo who made veteran Swetlana Grankowskaja look like an also ran with a quick turn of speed leaving the Russian for dead

World 500m TT Champion Lisanda Guerra beat Dutch powerhouse Willy Kanis, only to be relegated for moving outside the Sprinters line in the closing stages, impeding Kanis who will now progress to the Quarter Finals

The shock result of the early stages had to be World Keirin Champion Jennie Reed of the USA easily knocked out World Sprint Silver Medallist Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania in 11.955s, the American looks to be a serious threat to the rest of the competition



The Quarter Finals saw Pendleton face Krupeckaite and despite the Lithuanian being the closest of Vicki's rivals at the Manchester World championships, Pendleton had no problems whatsoever in making the Semis without breaking sweat

The second Quarter saw former great Natallia Tsylinskaya of Belarus face home favourite Shuang Guo of China, who despite two very physical sprints just did enough to make the Semis and push Tsylinskaya into the Minor Final tomorrow

Next up it was Anna Meares against Clara Sanchez, who always tend to draw each other in Sprint competitions, and as normal the result was the same with Meares taking the verdict despite Sanchez looking very strong in heat two

The last Quarter saw the two powerhouse Women Sprinters do battle as Willy Kanis of the Netherlands took on American Jennie Reed, who lead both heats out to the same effect as Kanis easily came round the World Keirin Champion to make the Semis

Day Three of the Women's Sprint bought a conclusion to events with the Semi-Finals and medal rides exciting yet another capacity crowd at the Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing



Semi Final one saw reigning Sprint World Champion Victoria Pendleton face Dutch powerhouse Willy Kanis, who pinned Pendleton to the fence before Vicki upped the pace to break free and yet again win with ease

Heat Two saw Pendleton lead it out before Kanis shot underneath and pushed Vicki upto the fence before diving down to start the sprint

Vicki looked troubled for an instant but quickly got on the rider from the Netherlands' wheel to cruise round and make her first Olympic final

Semi Final Two saw home favourite Shuang Guo face Aussie Anna Meares, who suffered a broken back at the beginning of the year in the Los Angeles World Cup

Obviously fearful of Meares' vast experience, Guo took heat one into a lengthly track stand in the backstraight, the pair finally move away with Guo still in control, it's Meares who backs off to get some height beore launching her sprint, but Guo took advantage and started her sprint straight away whilst Meares was still climbing, leaving the Aussie with too much to do

Meares took control of Heat Two from the gun, allowing Guo to the front with one lap remaining, but as Guo opens up the sprint Anna is on her wheel and moves round her to just win on the line, forcing the sprint into a third and deciding heat

After Guo crashed at the start of the decider, the crowd are louder than ever for the re-run as the two fight it out for a place in the final

Guo got the verdict but Meares and the Aussie camp appealed the decision and Guo was relegated for impeding Anna

Despite the final being talked up as a close encounter, it was as expected a formality for Pendleton who yet again effortlessly sprinted to victory with time to sit up and celebrate way before the line



After all Vicki went through in Athens and what she has done since to rectify those problems, its a heart-warming result for the now multiple National, Commonwealth, World and Olympic Champion - Kerching!

The Bronze medal ride off went to Guo, despite Kanis putting up a very strong showing

Women's Sprint

Final Results

1. PENDLETON Victoria Great Britain 11.363  11.118  
2. MEARES Anna Australia   

3. GUO Shuang China 11.420  11.617  
4. KANIS Willy Netherlands

5. SANCHEZ Clara France 12.264 58.708
6. TSYLINSKAYA Natallia Belarus  
7. REED Jennie United States  
8. KRUPECKAITE Simona Lithuania

9. GRANKOWSKAJA Swetlana Russian Fed. 12.192 59.055
10. GUERRA Lisandra Cuba  
11. HIJGENAAR Yvonne Netherlands  
12. TSUKUDA Sakie Japan

Semi Final Results

1. PENDLETON Victoria Great Britain 11.537  11.885  
2.  KANIS Willy Netherlands    

1. MEARES Anna Australia  11.578  11.617 
2. GUO Shuang China 11.629   REL 

1/4 Final Results

Heat 1
1 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)   
2 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)                         
 
Heat 2
1 Shuang Guo (China)                   
2 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus)                
 
Heat 3
1 Anna Meares (Australia)              
2 Clara Sanchez (France)                
 
Heat 4
1 Willy Kanis (Netherlands)            
2 Jennie Reed (USA)

1/8 Final Results

Heat 1
1 Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain)    0.11.736 (61.349 km/h)
2 Sakie Tsukuda (Japan)                         
 
Heat 2
1 Shuang Guo (China)                    0.11.410 (63.102 km/h)
2 Swetlana Grankowskaja (Russia)                
 
Heat 3
1 Anna Meares (Australia)               0.11.663 (61.733 km/h)
2 Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)                
 
Heat 4
1 Willy Kanis (Netherlands)             0.12.155 (59.234 km/h)
REL Lisandra Guerra (Cuba)                      
 
Heat 5
1 Jennie Reed (United States)           0.11.955 (60.225 km/h)
2 Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)                
 
Heat 6
1 Clara Sanchez (France)                0.11.607 (62.031 km/h)
2 Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus)  

Qualification Results

1. PENDLETON Victoria Great Britain 10.963 65.675 OR
2. GUO Shuang China 11.106 64.829 
3. MEARES Anna Australia 11.140 64.631 
4. KANIS Willy Netherlands 11.167 64.475 
5. KRUPECKAITE Simona Lithuania 11.222 64.159 
6. SANCHEZ Clara France 11.365 63.352 
7. TSYLINSKAYA Natallia Belarus 11.372 63.313 
8. REED Jennie United States 11.400 63.157 
9. GUERRA Lisandra Cuba 11.462 62.816 
10. HIJGENAAR Yvonne Netherlands 11.533 62.429 
11. GRANKOWSKAJA Swetlana Russian Fed. 11.544 62.370 
12. TSUKUDA Sakie Japan