A general view of Australia qualifying fastest time in the men’s Team Pursuit at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris(Image credit: Getty Images)Denmark in the men’s Team Pursuit qualification round at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games(Image credit: Getty Images)Great Britain in the men’s Team Pursuit qualification round at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games(Image credit: Getty Images)Denmark in the men’s Team Pursuit qualification round at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games(Image credit: Getty Images)Italy in the men’s Team Pursuit qualification round at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games(Image credit: Getty Images)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Australia fastest in men’s Team Pursuit qualification
Australia put in a brilliant performance in the men’s team pursuit to take the lead in the qualification heats, setting a near-world record of 3:42.958. Kelland O’Brien dropped off after 2750 metres and screamed at teammates Oliver Bleddyn, Conor Leahy, and Sam Welsford from the sidelines as they hurtled toward a near-world record, but landed 0.926 shy of Italy’s Tokyo record.
Great Britain’s quartet of Ethan Hayter, Ollie Wood, Dan Bigham and Ethan Vernon put in a strong ride with a time of 3:43.241 to qualify for the first round.
Denmark struggled in comparison to their team from the Tokyo Olympics, hitting out with the fastest first 3,000 metres but fading in the final kilometre. The team switched up their roster in the past three years with Niklas Larson and Rasmus Pedersen remaining but Tobias Hansen and Carl-Fredrik Bevort replacing Lasse Norman Hansen and Fredrik Rodenberg. They came through 0.449 seconds slower than Great Britain.
Italy had a shocking miscue past the halfway point of their 4km effort, with Francesco Lamon pulling off and Simone Consonni struggling to get onto the wheels of Jonathan Milan and Filippo Ganna. They finished off the pace in fourth but qualified for the first round and can make up for the mistake.
The hometown crowd went wild for the French foursome, with Thomas Boudat, Benjamin Thomas, Thomas Denis and the only non-Tom, Valentin Tabellion, tucked in behind Britain in the standings with a 3:45.514.
New Zealand’s Aaron Gate, Tom Sexton, Campbell Stewart and Keegan Hornblow put in a solid ride to qualify to move on, finishing just a tenth of a second slower than France with a 3:45.616.
Belgium set a solid first time, coming just five seconds from the world record with a 3:47.232 as conditions on the track were incredibly fast, even the loss of Robbe Ghys, who withdrew for “medical reasons”, and was replaced by 22-year-old Noah Vandenbranden to ride with Dens Tuur, Fabio van den Bossche and Lindsay De Vylder.
Canada’s breakthrough squad of Dylan Bibic, Mathias Guillemette, Michael Foley and Carson Mattern had a brilliant first 3000 metres but fell apart a bit in the final kilometre and dropped behind Belgium at 3:48.964. But it was enough to move on to the first round, a historic moment for the Canadian men.
Germany’s hopes appeared to fall apart when 22-year-old Tim Torn Teutenberg dropped off the pace of veterans Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt on the final laps after Tobias Buck-Gramcko, 23, had already pulled the plug. The mistake cost them and they were eliminated from the rest of the competition.
Japan had an even more disastrous performance, hitting out way too hard in the opening kilometre, losing Nakano Shinji early and then finishing a devastating last place, missing the qualification.
Denmark in the men’s Team Pursuit qualification round at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games(Image credit: Getty Images)