Britain wins another gold, silver in Olympic track cycling

Leading Morton in the two-rider event, Meares put a +0.109 buffer between Australia and Germany after the first lap of their final but their rivals gained in the final lap to win by +0.022 in a time of 32.636.

James came from last place and had to take the outside line but finished at a tremendous pace to pip Meares.

Meares will again ride tomorrow morning in the keirin – an individual event tipped to be her best chance of winning a third Olympic gold medal.

Meares now has two gold, one silver and three bronze from her four Olympics.

Asked how she’d landed at the business end of her Rio campaign with the early requirements of Australian flag-bearer role over, Meares said: “I think I’ve actually handled it OK”.

Becky James has reached the Olympic Keirin final and will ride-off for a gold medal on Saturday.

Meares and Morton led at the race’s half way mark, but were outgunned late to finish 0.028sec slower than their highly-rated opposition.

But she added it had only lasted a day and she was grateful for the gap between the opening ceremony and her competition.

Kristina Vogel is the world champion in the event, and based on that it is hard to argue she isn’t going to take gold.

It is the second Australian Olympic cycling medal in Rio, after the men’s team pursuiters won silver on Friday.

Sprint qualifying is on Sunday, with the medals decided on Tuesday.