Emma Finucane claimed her second medal of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, seizing a brilliant bronze medal in the women’s keirin in an epic final battle at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome. 

Women’s keirin

Emma Finucane claimed a brilliant bronze medal as Katy Marchant finished in fourth in an exhilarating women’s keirin final.

Finucane and Marchant both sailed through their quarter-finals in second and third place, respectively, before tense battles in the semi-finals. Finucane had a photo finish for third place against Steffie van der Peet (Netherlands) but had the edge to enter the final. Marchant seized her opportunity on the last lap of her semi-final, finding a gap and accelerating hard to take second place and confirm her spot in the Olympic final.

An epic final saw Marchant draw fourth place and Finucane in sixth as the derny came onto the track. Daniela Gaxiola Gonzalez (Mexico) made the first move with Finucane straight on her wheel with three laps to go. An expert in long sprints, world champion Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand) did a huge effort with a lap and a half to go. Finucane was sat on her shoulder and tried to challenge the New Zealander, with Hetty van der Wouw (Netherlands) also coming into play round the final bend. A lunge for the line saw Finucane claim the bronze medal to add to her team sprint gold, while Marchant had a fast finish to take fourth, having sprinted from the back.

Speaking after her medal winning performance, Finucane said:

“Today I felt pretty nervous on the track, I don’t know if you could tell from my racing that I was quite sceptical. But when I saw that I made the final, I knew I had to make it count. Going up there with my best friend Katy and with a smile on my face, I just gave it everything I could on the track as I was racing the best girls in the world. That Olympic final was stacked, and we had to fight for it. I can’t believe it and I’m just over the moon. To have my family and friends here and thank you to everyone back at home. It’s been a dream come true to be honest. 

“I’m just taking every day as it comes and I’m going into the sprint tomorrow with nothing to lose. I’ve got two medals at my first Olympics and I’m just going to go in tomorrow and enjoy it.” 

Men’s omnium

Ethan Hayter finished in eighth place after fantastic efforts in the omnium, including an elimination race win.

The 40 lap scratch race started quickly, with Hayter well in the mix near the front of the race. A flurry of attacks saw groups continue to go off the front, with Elia Viviani (Italy) closely following Hayter’s wheel. Grant Koontz (USA) accelerated off the front, and was chased down by Fabio van den Bossch (Belgium), Niklas Larsen (Denmark), Benjamin Thomas (France) and Jan Willem van den Schip (Netherlands). Attacks continued behind, but no one could get away as the pace in the front group ramped up, dropping Koontz in the process. The four leading riders managed to gain a lap, with five laps remaining, leaving the fight for fifth place open. A sprint finish saw Hayter cross the line second and finish in sixth place. 

Multiple riders gained laps and a maximum 20 points in the tempo race, with many solo attacks splintering the peloton. A strong finish from Hayter saw him cross the line in second, but stood 12th in the race standings having been unable to claim points. Going into the elimination race, the British rider sat in 10th position.

Hayter put himself back into contention with a fantastic elimination race, taking the win with ease. The British rider rode the majority of the race from the front, and was down to the last two with INEOS Grenadiers teammate Viviani. Hayter stormed off in the final lap as Viviani sat up, giving the British rider the win, and going into the final points race on 88 points in fifth position.

An easy start to the 100 lap points race saw the bunch stay together, before the bell for the first sprint lap kicked things off. Hayter started well, sprinting to second as gaps started to form around the track as the pace increased. With 82 laps to go, Hayter made his first solo move in an attempt to get away, but Benjamin Thomas (France) closed the gap, with the Brit taking two more points in the second sprint. Thomas continued to power on, gaining a gap with three other riders, which Hayter just missed out on. Hayter continued to ride near the front of the bunch, marking Thomas and gaining another point in the fifth sprint.

At the halfway mark, Hayter was still sitting in fifth place as his attempts to get away were quickly foiled. He made a last-gasp attempt with 14 laps to go, gaining a gap off the front on the hunt for a 20 point advantage, but was reeled back in as the pace increased. A dramatic final few laps saw Hayter unable to get into the medal places, finishing in eighth place after a great battle. 

Men’s individual sprint

Jack Carlin fought off tough competition in the men’s individual sprint quarter-finals, while Hamish Turnbull finished in sixth place.

In the first best of three match sprints, Carlin lined up against Ota Kaiya (Japan), with the Japanese rider taking the first win. A physical second race saw the two riders' elbow to elbow, fighting at full speed. Carlin was pipped on the line, but a relegation for Kaiya saw the pair line up for the deciding race. A tense three laps saw the two jostle for the front, once again battling shoulder to shoulder as they came up to speed. Carlin found a second wind on the back straight in the final lap, gunning out the saddle and sailing round to just pinch the win, and confirm his place in tomorrow’s semi-final. He will face the defending Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands).

Turnbull faced stiff competition in the Tokyo silver medallist Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands). The Brit performed his first ride to perfection, attacking hard with a lap to go to take the win, but Hoogland fought back in a tight photo finish to take the second win. The deciding race saw Turnbull ride impressively, but was unable to overpower the Dutch rider. A second-place finish in the 5-8 final saw Turnbull round off the sprint competition in sixth. 

The 14th day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will see the men’s individual sprint come to a conclusion as the women’s individual sprint begins. The women’s Madison pair of Elinor Barker and Neah Evans will also be competing. 

You can watch on Discovery+ or BBC from 13:00 BST and follow the results on the British Cycling social media channels.