SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France :World champion Ellesse Andrews surged to gold in the women’s keirin on Thursday to end a 20-year wait for a New Zealand track cycling title at the Olympics.
The 24-year-old hit the front early in the final, held off Britain’s new sprint queen Emma Finucane around the final bend and powered across the line.
Finucane, who won gold in the team sprint, faded in the final metres and was overtaken by Dutch rider Hetty van de Wouw who took the silver with Finucane settling for bronze.
Andrews, runner-up in Tokyo, added the Olympic gold to the world title she won in Glasgow last year.
She also doubled New Zealand’s haul of Olympic track cycling golds with the only other one coming in Athens in 2004 when Sarah Ulmer won the individual pursuit.
“Tokyo was so special to me, and that silver was an amazing bonus at that time, and such a special moment to reflect back on,” Andrews told reporters. “But to come here and to do one better is just something else.”
New Zealand are having an impressive time in the National Velodrome and are second in the medal table three, two fewer than leaders Britain. Andrews also won the silver medal in the team sprint behind Britain while New Zealand were runners-up to the United States in the women’s team pursuit.
Andrews, whose father Jon competed as a cyclist at the 1992 Olympics, said to end the country’s long wait for a gold medal was a surreal moment.
“It’s so special, that we have an amazing cycling culture in New Zealand,” she said. “So to bring a gold medal back for the country, for myself, for the sport, for everyone who supports me is just incredible.”
Andrews will have more medal chances in the individual sprint which starts on Friday.
