Great Britain's Rebecca Romero captured the only gold medal offered in the third day of track cycling at the Laoshan Velodrome, left, on Sunday, as other Brits finished near the top in qualifying rounds for qualifiers or finals on Monday.
The men's pursuit team, in fact, set an Olympic and world record in the first round.
For the US, Jennie Reed was the only cyclist to advance on the day. The Kirkland, Washington, resident and Issaquah High School grad will race in the women's sprint quarterfinals on Monday.
Rowing?
Rebecca Romero, 28, ended up at the Laoshan Velodrome finals for women's 3000 meter individual pursuit by an unusual path — rowing.
The Brit was a champion rower before an injury forced her to switch over to cycling. In fact, Romero won the silver medal rowing in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
Romero beat teammate Wendy Houvenaghel, 33, who won the silver medal. Houvenaghel took up cycling just five years ago to accompany her husband on training rides, reports BBC.
Lesya Kalitovska of Ukraine took the bronze.
Reed
Jennie Reed was the only US cyclist to advance on the day, qualifying for the women's sprint quarterfinals to be held on Monday.
Reed, 30, finished a disappointing 10th in the sprint in the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. Since then, she's spent time training for the women's team pursuit endurance event which she says has also helped her as a sprinter.
She won the women's keirin, an event not offered to women at the Olympics, at the world championship in Manchester earlier this year, and finished 3rd in the sprint. At the Los Angeles World Cup this year, she finished 1st in keirin and 2nd in the sprint. More about Reed's comeback at the Seattle Times.
As expected, however, Great Britain's Victoria Pendleton is expected to win the gold medal in the women's sprint event. Quarterfinals are Monday and finals are Tuesday.
Men's team pursuit
Great Britain's men's pursuit team appeared on track to win a gold medal in the finals on Monday after setting an Olympic and world record in the event on Sunday. The four had to set the fast mark to ensure a berth in the gold medal round against Denmark.
If the Brits win, which is expected, it will mark the first gold medal for the team in men's pursuit since the 1908 Olympics.
New Zealand will face Australia in the battle for bronze.
Men's sprint
Four cyclists beat the 1996 Olympic record in the men's sprint as eight advanced to Monday's quarterfinals. Great Britain's Chris Hoy set an Olympic record of 9.815, while Stefan Nimke of Germany, Jason Kenny of Great Britain and Mickael Bourgain of France also bettered the old record.
Also competing Monday are Mohd Azizulhasni of Malaysia, Kevin Sireau of France, Maximillian Levy of Germany, Teun Mulder of the Netherlands, and Theo Bos of the Netherlands.
Women's points race
In addition to Reed, Sarah Hammer will also be competing Monday, although in a different event.
Hammer is the only US cyclist in the 25-kilometer women's point race. She'll compete in a field of 22 cyclists fighting for points in the 100-lap contest at the Laoshan Velodrome.
Hammer was one of the US's high hopes in track cycling at the 2008 Olympics, competing in two events. On Saturday, she failed to qualify in the women's 3000 meter individual pursuit, however.
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