LONDON, Aug 7, 2012 (AFP) – Australia’s Anna Meares stunned British rival
Victoria Pendleton to win the women’s Olympic sprint title at the London
velodrome on Tuesday.
China’s Guo Shuang took the bronze after beating Kristina Vogel of Germany
in the race for third place.
Pendleton, racing for the last time in what has been a hugely successful
career, had been expected to beat her arch rival after showing stunning form
on the way to the final.
However, the 31-year-old Englishwoman’s nerve seemed to go after she was
relegated from the first race, which she won on a photo finish, having come
out of her sprint lane.
The pair got up for the second race, but after Pendleton took the race by
the scruff of the neck, following a brief trackstand, she had no response when
Meares put in a big turn of pace on the back home straight.
The Australian, 29, won with relative ease at the finish where she pumped
the air in joy.
It is her second Olympic title, but first in the sprint having finished
behind Pendleton in 2008. Meares won the 500m time trial gold at the Athens
Games in 2004.
Gold: Anna Meares (AUS)
Silver: Victoria Pendleton (GBR)
Bronze: Guo Shuang (CHN)
