Pendleton – burns showing through large holes in her GB skinsuit – then upstaged the 28-year-old Meares in a spectacular deciding heat, winning in a photo finish.
The final against Krupeckaite, last year’s silver medallist, felt predestined for Pendleton in front of a muted Australian crowd.
But the victory came in odd circumstances. Pendleton won heat one and Krupeckaite seemed to have levelled in the second race before the Lithuanian, too, was relegated in identical circumstances to Meares.
Pendleton, already off the track and preparing for a deciding heat when the relegation and her consequent victory were announced, fell into an emotional celebration as she won Britain a third gold medal of the week in Olympic events (fourth overall). Meares took the bronze.
“I was disappointed with the team sprint [on Wednesday, when Pendleton and Jess Varnish failed to earn a medal],” said Pendleton.
“It left me flat, I must admit. Picking myself up for this was quite hard. I thought this was going to be a stepping-stone and I hoped I might do a better performance than I did at the London World Cup.
“I feel I did that and I’m more than pleased.”
Elsewhere on Friday, Sir Chris Hoy took a lengthy route to the men’s sprint semi-finals, where he will now face team-mate Jason Kenny.
The Scot first came through a repechage round following an early defeat by France’s Mickael Bourgain, then edged past Germany’s Robert Foerstemann in their deciding quarter-final heat, which also required a photo to separate the pair.
Kenny defeated Frenchman Kevin Sireau in their last-eight decider with a bold, early bid for the line to set up an all-British semi-final on Saturday. The outcome of that race could help to decide which of the pair rides in the sprint at the Olympics, with only one slot available.
In the six-event men’s omnium, Britain’s Ed Clancy lost some ground on his rivals with seventh place in event five, the scratch race, eventually claiming fourth overall despite a strong time trial to finish.
Britain’s Dani King took fourth place in the non-Olympic women’s scratch race, having been part of the women’s pursuit team that won world gold a day earlier.
BBC coverage (times BST): Medal sessions live on BBC Sport website and Red Button from 1000 each day. Highlights on BBC Two 1430-1700 Sun 8 April. Commentary and updates on 5 live and 5 live sports extra 0500-1400 daily.
Source link : http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport/0/cycling/17636634
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Publish date : 2012-04-06 15:51:00
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