Finucane takes golden form into Olympics
GB ace claims clean sweep at latest Nations Cup round in Hong Kong, reports Tom Davidson
Sprint world champion Emma Finucane scored a hat-trick of gold medals in her last race outing before this summer’s Paris Olympics. The 21-year-old took the top step of the podium in the individual sprint, keirin and team sprint – alongside Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant – at the UCI Nations Cup event in Hong Kong last weekend.
The victories build on what has been a hugely successful start to this Olympic year for the women’s sprint squad, after Finucane won the sprint title at the European Championships, and the team sprint trio earned their first gold medal in over 11 years at the Adelaide Nations Cup round.
“It feels amazing,” Finucane said of her Hong Kong heroics. “I’m really proud and this means everything to me, especially in an Olympic year. Coming into this racing, I didn’t really know where I’d be at, but I put together some really good rides, and I’m really proud of how tactically I pulled it off.”
The sprint events opened with the team sprint on Friday, where GB’S trio of Finucane, Capewell and Marchant qualified fastest. They then clocked increasingly quicker times in each of the ensuing rounds, beating the world champions Germany in the final by over two tenths of a second. The win marked the first time GB had gained the upper hand in a final against the Germans, the team they lost out to at the World Championships last summer.
Riding on the momentum of that victory, Finucane then starred in the individual events across the weekend. She qualified fastest in the individual sprint, and dispatched former world champions Lea Sophie Friedrich and Mathilde Gros on her way to winning the gold. She then ruled supreme over the keirin on Sunday, too, winning each of her initial rounds before storming clear with half a lap to go in the final.
“This is my first gold in a keirin event at this stage,” she said. “It was such an interesting race. I loved just riding my bike and getting stuck in. To come away with a win is amazing and I can’t believe it. It puts GB women in a good step forward for the Olympics this year.”
“I never thought I’d be going to the Olympic Games as the world champion”
Next stop Paris
Having already qualified for the
Olympics this summer, winning gold medals in Adelaide and Hong Kong, GB’S women’s sprint squad do not need to compete in the third and final Nations Cup rounds, scheduled for 12-14 April in Milton, Canada. As a result, Hong Kong was likely Finucane’s final event before Paris, where she will go as one of the squad’s brightest medal hopes.
“I’ve always wanted to be an Olympian,” the Welshwoman told the press in Manchester earlier this month. “I think now the talks have changed from going to an Olympic Games to compete, to winning, and getting gold medals. I’d love to win at the Olympics. I’ve dreamt it since I was a little girl. My career has gone quite quickly, and I never thought I’d be going into the Games as the current world champion.”
GB MEDALS – HONG KONG NATIONS CUP
GOLD Women’s team sprint - Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane Women’s sprint - Emma Finucane Women’s keirin - Emma Finucane
Men’s elimination race - Will Perrett GB’S endurance squads decided to prioritise the final Nations Cup round in Milton, Canada over Hong Kong