Barker ends GB wait with first gold on final day of world championships
Elinor Barker ensured Great Britain did not leave the UCI Track Cycling World Championships without a rainbow jersey as she took gold in the women’s points race on the final day in Berlin.
It was only a fourth medal for Britain, and their first gold, in a week which has raised questions over expectations for the Tokyo Olympics in five months.
Though the points race is not an Olympic event, Barker’s success was a welcome sign both for the team and for her individually. “It always feels pretty good to be honest,” said the 25-year-old. “It’s not irrelevant that it’s not an Olympic event, but it doesn’t make it feel any less incredible.”
This was a fifth world title for Barker, who also won the points race in Hong Kong in 2017, and came a day after she and Scottish partner Neah Evans suffered disappointment in the women’s Madison, seeing their medal hopes dashed by a late crash.
“I’d have much rather won the Madison to be honest, I was very happy with how I rode,” said Barker. “I just didn’t end up with a medal and that can happen sometimes in Madison races because it’s so unpredictable.”
Barker and Evans were also part of the women’s team pursuit squad that took silver on Thursday, while there was also silver in the men’s team sprint and bronze for Matt Walls in the men’s omnium.
There were two further chances to add to that tally yesterday, but Katy Marchant missed out on a place in the women’s keirin final in a photo finish and Ethan Hayter and Ollie Wood were ninth in the men’s Madison.