Marchant suffers a quick early exit

Olympic bronze medallist Katy Marchant was remaining positive despite her first-round elimination in the women’s sprint on day two of the Track World Championships in Hong Kong.

The 24-year-old Leeds rider claimed Olympic bronze behind gold medallist Kristina Vogel, of Germany, and fellow Briton Becky James, who won two silvers in Rio, but who is absent from Hong Kong on an extended post-Games break.

Marchant, the only British female sprinter to travel went in the qualifying ride – a flying 200m – to establish seedings for the head-to-head match sprints and the top four qualifiers received a first-round bye.

Former heptathlete Marchant qualified in 16th place and met 17th-fastest qualifier Lin Junhong, of China, in the first round.

The Chinese rider led out the Briton, who was unable to round her and exited the competition, but was looking at the bigger picture and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Marchant said: “I’m really disappointed.

“I feel like I’m just missing a little bit of zing, which is something that coming off Rio is to be expected, I guess.

“It’s hard to comprehend, but that’s bike racing.

“I didn’t get the roar when I got the number on my back – maybe the fact it’s not an Olympic Games or something in the back of my mind telling me that I’m not feeling great.

“Last time I was up on the world stage was in the Olympic Games and I was winning a bronze medal.

“I know to get knocked out in the first round is not what we expect from a medallist, but the preparation coming into this competition is about the process leading on to Tokyo.”