Joe McConnell
Emma Finucane has become the first British woman in 60 years to win three medals at a single Olympics, taking bronze in the individual sprint on the final day of the Games in Paris.
The 21-year-old reigning world champion in this specialty needed just two races to beat Dutchman Hetty van de Wouw in a best-of-three match.
Finucane was part of the British sprint team that won gold on Monday, and then bronze in the keirin on Thursday; her latest success made her the first British woman to win three Olympic medals since Mary Rand in 1964.
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Cyclist Katy Marchant says she knew Team GB were capable of something special after winning gold in the women’s team sprint, breaking the world record three times.
It was one of two medals won by Team GB on the final day, as Emily Campbell took bronze in the women’s 81kg and over weightlifting event, leaving Great Britain with a total of 65 medals, one more than they won at the Tokyo Games.
“It’s honestly an incredible feeling,” Finucane said. “I know I had expectations for myself coming into these Games, but honestly, one gold and two bronzes is more than I could have expected. This week has been a real rollercoaster.”
New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews took gold, comfortably beating Lea Friedrich in the final after defeating Finucane in the semi-final. Team GB’s Sophie Capewell won the ranking race to take fifth place.
Campbell celebrates bronze with a wheel!
Emily Campbell celebrated with a cartwheel after taking bronze in the women’s +81kg category, becoming the first British weightlifter to win two Olympic medals in more than half a century.
Emily Campbell was the British team’s 65th and final Olympic medalist in Paris
The 30-year-old set a new combined personal best of 288kg in the snatch and clean and jerk disciplines, placing her behind defending champion Li Wenwen of China and 21-year-old Hyejeong Park of South Korea.
Campbell’s totals of 126kg and 162kg in each category were also personal bests, as she finished with a cumulative score five kilograms better than the one that earned her the silver medal in Tokyo.
“The course was a lot tougher today than in Tokyo,” Campbell said. “I really had to get it out of the bag and it’s been a long road. We’ve had a tough year to prepare, a tough 18 months actually, so I couldn’t be happier with my performance. You can’t really complain about a personal best.”
China’s Li, forced to withdraw before last year’s world championships due to injury, won gold with a total of 309kg which, while far from her best, was easily enough to defeat rising star Park’s challenger by 10kg.
Grainger: Britain’s athletes ‘performed brilliantly’ in Paris
The bronze medals won by Finucane and Campbell on the final day took Team GB’s final medal tally to 65 at the Games, the same number as at London 2012 and one more than at Tokyo three years ago.
The British team’s medal haul in the last four Olympics
Katherine Grainger, chairman of UK Sport, told Vscek News: “To get to 65 [medals] It’s very close to the top end. It’s a brilliant performance.
“I’m thrilled for every single athlete who contributed to those numbers. There’s a lot of expectation, pressure and they gave it their all.
“It doesn’t surprise me… I’m just very happy, because it shows that the system works.”
Despite a haul of Olympic medals in the 1960s for the fourth consecutive time, only 14 of the 65 victories were gold, meaning the British team dropped to seventh in the final medal table.
“Usually if you win more than 60 medals, you’re in the top five,” Grainger added. “It’s very unusual to be out of that category.
“What you typically see is that about a third of the medals won by a team are converted into gold.
“We knew that between third and eighth place in the medal table the level became very congested and it was enough for someone not to win gold to find themselves in a different position in the rankings.”
Carlin ends Team GB’s winning streak in men’s keirin
Jack Carlin crashed out of the men’s keirin final in what turned out to be a painful race for Team GB. He initially struggled to get up after a high-speed crash on the final corner of the race, but eventually walked off the track without needing a waiting stretcher.
The Scot had been at the back of the pack and was struggling to make up ground when Japanese rider Shinji Nakano and Malaysian Muhammad Sahrom collided in front of him, leaving him with no way out.
Jack Carlin missed out on medal in men’s keirin race
Carlin’s teammate Hamish Turnbull had a serious accident in the semi-final after trying to avoid a crash involving German Luca Spiegel, while Turnbull did not take part in the race which decided the positions from 7th to 12th.
Victory went to Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen, who wore all three of his gold medals on the podium after also winning the team sprint and individual race, marking the first time since 2004 that the men’s keirin had not been won by a British rider.
Neah Evans She only managed to finish 15th in the women’s omnium, after falling in the opening scratch race, while American Jennifer Valente took gold.
Frenchman fails to defend pentathlon due to illness
Reigning champion French Kate She withdrew from the women’s modern pentathlon final due to illness, despite having qualified comfortably from Saturday’s semifinal and being among the favorites to medal.
Teammate Kerenza Bryson, who set an Olympic record by winning her semi-final, failed to match her performance in any of the five events and ultimately struggled to a ninth-place finish.
“I came here to try to win a medal,” Bryson said. “My performance this season and how I felt, I really thought I was capable of getting one. I didn’t quite perform as I thought I was capable of.”
Elsewhere, Sifan Hassan rounded off a remarkable week by winning Olympic gold in the women’s marathon, setting an Olympic record of two hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds just 36 hours after taking third place in the 10,000m final.
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Sifan Hassan became the only woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and a marathon
The Ethiopian-born Dutch runner, who also took bronze in the 5,000 metres on Tuesday, defeated Ethiopian Tigst Assefa by three seconds in a final sprint, while the Briton Clare Evans achieved his best result of the season, finishing 46th.
Compatriot Rose Harvey it was 78° and Calli Hauger Thackery it is not finished.
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