New Zealand’s women’s pursuit cycling team won silver in the 4000m final at the Paris Olympics. The United States beat them by 0.621 seconds in the final at the French National Velodrome in Versailles. This was the first Olympic medal New Zealand won in this discipline.
The Kiwis, including Ally Wollaston, Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman, and Nicole Shields, had also won a silver medal on the opening day of the competition.
The pursuit team qualified quickest, but with just a win to secure in their first-round clash with Italy, they recorded a slower time than the Americans in beating Great Britain.
Wollaston said they had a plan, executed it, and left everything on the track, but they just got beaten by a better team. The squad was young and ambitious, and they wanted to build on what they had achieved in the last two days.
The US team took an early lead and never surrendered, despite losing their structure in the latter stages of the races. They won in 4 min 4.306 sec, while the Kiwis finished in 4 min 4.927 sec. They pulled back some time in the last 1000m but could not get close enough to their rivals.
The Americans led by 0.845 seconds after 1000m, 1.306 seconds after 2000m, and 1.543 seconds after 3000m. Wollaston told Sky Sport the team could take pride in their silver medal, as they always wanted to win, but that ride was something they could be proud of.
Bryony Botha’s sister, Leigh-Ann, expressed her pride in the team’s performance, noting that they did a really good job and won the first medal in history for New Zealand in the women’s team pursuit.
Eddie Dawkins, Sam Webster, and Ethan Mitchell won a silver medal in the team sprint in Rio, and he believes that the four women will continue to achieve faster times in the future.
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