Lichfield's Sophie Capewell secures Olympic gold

She was in action today.

Author: Tom FeahenyPublished 5th Aug 2024

A West Midlands cyclist broke a world record and claimed gold in their Olympics debut in Paris.

25-year-old Sophie Capewell from Lichfield was part of the women's team sprint event.

Katy Marchant, Capewell and Emma Finucane were the fastest in qualifying as their time of 45.472 seconds narrowly beat the world record set by the Chinese squad at a national event in June.

A little over an hour and a half later Germany went faster with a time of 45.377, but the record was broken twice in the next six minutes - first by New Zealand's time of 45.348 and then by Britain's 45.338.

Team GB have never won a medal in this event, having failed to even qualify at the past two Olympics. The sprint has changed format for the Paris Games with the women's teams expanded to three riders from the pairs that competed in Tokyo.

They had a tough test against New Zealand but got the job done and secured the medal.