Emma Finucane became the first British woman in 60 years to win three medals at a single Olympic Games when she took bronze in the individual sprint on the final day of the Games in Paris.
The 21-year-old, the reigning world champion in this discipline, needed just two races to beat Dutch rider Hetty van de Wouw in the best-of-three format.
Finucane was part of the British sprint team that won gold on Monday and bronze in the keirin on Thursday. With her latest success, she becomes the first British woman since Mary Rand in 1964 to win three medals at an Olympic Games.
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Cyclist Katy Marchant says she knew Team GB was 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, taking Great Britain’s total to 65 medals – one more than at the Tokyo Games.
“Honestly, it feels incredible,” said Finucane. “I know I had high expectations for myself coming into these Games, but honestly, one gold medal and two bronze medals is more than I expected. It’s been a rollercoaster this week.”
New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews stormed to gold, easily defeating Lea Friedrich in the final after beating Finucane in the semi-final. Team GB’s Sophie Capewell won the qualifying race and finished in fifth place.
Campbell celebrates bronze with a cartwheel!
Emily Campbell celebrated her victory in the women’s over 81kg weight class with a cartwheel, making her the first British weightlifter in over half a century to win two Olympic medals.
Emily Campbell was the 65th and final Olympic medal for Team GB in Paris
The 30-year-old set a new personal best of 288 kg in the snatch and clean and jerk, finishing behind defending champion Li Wenwen from China and 21-year-old Hyejeong Park from South Korea.
Campbell’s total lifts of 126 kg and 162 kg in the respective categories were also personal bests, as she finished with a total score that was five kilograms better than the one that secured her the silver medal in Tokyo.
“The field was a lot tougher today than in Tokyo,” said Campbell. “I had to really pull myself together and it was a really long road. We 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 when you have a personal best.”
China’s Li, who had to withdraw before the World Championships last year due to injury, won gold with a total of 309 kg. Although this was well below her personal best, she easily beat rising star Park by 10 kg.
Grainger: GB athletes “performed brilliantly” in Paris
With bronze medals for Finucane and Campbell on the final day, Team GB’s total medals at the Games were 65, the same number as in London 2012 and one more than in Tokyo three years ago.
Medal haul of the British team at the last four Olympic Games
Katherine Grainger, chair of UK Sport, told Sky Sports News: “To get 65 (medals) is very close to the top end. It’s a brilliant achievement.”
“I am happy for every single athlete who contributed to these numbers. The expectations are high, the pressure is great and they have shown great performances.”
“I’m not surprised… I’m just very happy because it shows that the system works.”
Although Team GB won Olympic medals in the 60s for the fourth Games in a row, only 14 of their 65 medals were gold, meaning they slipped to seventh place in the final medal table.
“If you win over 60 medals, you’re usually well advised to be in the top five,” Grainger added. “It’s very unusual to finish outside that category.”
“Normally about a third of a team’s medals are converted into gold.
“We always knew that it would be very close between third and eighth place in the medal table and that if some of them didn’t switch to gold, it would be enough to end up in a different place in the table.”
Carlin ends British team’s winning streak in men’s keirin
Jack Carlin crashed in the men’s keirin final in what turned into a painful competition for Team GB. After the high-speed crash on the final corner of the race, he initially struggled to get up but eventually left the course without needing the waiting stretcher.
The Scot had been caught at the back of the group and was trying to catch up when the Japanese Shinji Nakano and the Malaysian Muhammad Sahrom got in each other’s way in front of him and he had no other option than to fall.
Jack Carlin missed a medal in the men’s keirin competition
Carlin’s teammate Hamish Turnbull crashed heavily in his semi-final after trying to avoid an incident with Germany’s Luca Spiegel. Turnbull did not take part in the race for places 7 to 12.
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, making the men’s keirin not won by a British rider for the first time since 2004.
Neah Evans In the women’s omnium, she only came in 15th after a fall in the first scratch race, while American Jennifer Valente took gold.
Frenchwoman misses defending her title in pentathlon due to illness
Defending champion Kate French withdrew from the final of the women’s modern pentathlon due to illness, although she had easily qualified in the semifinals on Saturday and was one of the medal favorites.
Teammate Kerenza Bryson, who set an Olympic record with her semi-final victory, was unable to match her performance in any of the five disciplines and ultimately struggled to finish in ninth place.
“I came here to win a medal,” Bryson said. “My performances this season and how I felt really made me believe I was capable of doing that. However, I didn’t quite perform to the level I was capable of.”
Elsewhere, Sifan Hassan rounded off a remarkable week by winning the Olympic gold medal in the women’s marathon, setting an Olympic record time of 2 hours 22 minutes 55 seconds, just under 36 hours after securing third place in the 10,000m final.
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Sifan Hassan is the only woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 m, 10,000 m and a marathon
The Ethiopian-born Dutch runner, who also won bronze in the 5,000-meter race on Tuesday, beat Ethiopian Tigst Assefa by three seconds in the sprint to the finish, while the Briton Clara Evans achieved her season best and finished in 46th place.
Countryman Rose Harvey was 78. and Calli Hauger-Thackery not finished.
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