Silver lining for pair in Madison
Matt Walls and Ethan Hayter yesterday took Olympic men’s Madison silver for Great Britain as world champions Lasse Norman Hansen and Michael Morkov claimed gold for Denmark.
A day after Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald won the first-ever running of a women’s Madison at an Olympics, Walls and Hayter used a strong finish to add to the medal haul as this hugely popular event returned to the men’s programme for the first time since 2008.
It appeared hopes of a bronze were slipping away from Britain in the final laps, but instead a late surge saw Walls and Hayter edge out the French duo of Benjamin Thomas and Donavan Grondin for silver.
Both nations finished level on 40 points, three behind Denmark, but silver went to Walls and Hayter by virtue of winning the final sprint at the end of the 200-lap race.
It gives Walls his second medal of the Tokyo Games after his omnium gold, and a first medal for his Manchester housemate Hayter, part of the team pursuit squad who finished seventh earlier in the week.
Walls said: “I was just cooked at halfway. But we had a bit of gas at the end to finish it off.”
Hayter added: “We set out on the front to try to get a bit of a head start.
“I think my legs started to go first.”
Katy Marchant’s hopes of a women’s sprint medal at these Games were ended in the quarter-finals as she was beaten 2-0 by Hong Kong’s Lee Wai Sze.
Marchant, who took Olympic bronze in 2016, tried to go on the attack in both heats but could not then hold off the fast-finishing Lee down the straight.
It means Marchant will leave the Games emptyhanded after her keirin hopes were ended by a crash on Thursday.