VIDEO: Drama Unfolds During Track Cycling Event With Multiple Crashes and Shattering of Records at Tokyo Olympics 2020

Although the Tokyo Olympics are in its final week, there are still some sports left to be completed. One of those sports is track cycling, which began yesterday at the Izu Velodrome. While the event brought an element of speed, Day 2 of track cycling produced several spills and thrills across all events.

Along with many crashes, some cyclists set new world records at the Games. Here are some of the key moments of Day 2 in track cycling.

Day 2 of track cycling in Tokyo Olympics peppered with crashes

The day started off with 36-year-old British cyclist Ed Clancy announcing his retirement from the sport. The three-time gold medalist admitted a back injury kept him from competing any further ahead of their heat against Denmark later in the day.

He said,?“I?m absolutely gutted that my Olympic career has ended this way, but it would be unfair of me to try to carry on now I have aggravated my back injury.”

Action on the track began with the women’s team pursuit heats. While the first two heats went seamlessly, the third heat produced the first crash of the day. Great Britain’s Neah Evans, who replaced Elinor Barker, crashed into her own teammate Katie Archibald right after their victory.

However, the second crash of the day saw tensions running high. During the men’s team pursuit heat between Denmark and Great Britain, Frederik Madsen bumped into Charlie Tanfield which sent both riders tumbling.

This incident increased the pre-existing tensions between the two teams since Great Britain believed the UCI should have disqualified Denmark before the heat.

READ MORE: Great Britain Fuel Ongoing Controversy After Crash Sends Denmark to Gold Medal Race in Tokyo Olympics

Germany break women’s team pursuit world record three times

While a few crashes sent riders tumbling, more world records tumbled than riders in Tokyo today. Team Great Britain broke the first world record in the women’s team pursuit in their heat against USA.

However, Germany broke that record in three successive performances. Ultimately, they set the world record in the final against Great Britain with a time of 4:04.242.

Elsewhere, Italy set the world record in the men’s team pursuit during their heat against New Zealand. Although both teams finished two seconds under the previous world record time, Italy edged out the Kiwis to book their place in the gold medal race.

They will face Denmark in their chase for a gold medal, who held the previous world record in the event. In the men’s team sprint heats, Australia set a new Olympic record of 42.103s to defeat the Russian Olympic Committee to keep the trend of records tumbling in the velodrome going.

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