Six-time gold medalist Chris Hoy started the day off with the coup-de-baton honors. It was a harbinger for things to come as Harrie Lavreysen defended his Olympic gold in impressive fashion. 

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Defending Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen faced Australia’s Matthew Richardson for the 15th time in their professional careers. Neither had lost a race on the way to the final, but Lavreysen won the final to defend his gold and continue his domination of the men’s individual sprint. 

"Even in the semifinals, I was really keen on not making mistakes," Lavreysen said. "I was even more nervous than I was for the final, because I knew in that final I could finally throw everything out that I've got."

In the first race, Lavreysen led from end-to end. Richardson attempted to challenge by going wide, but he couldn’t catch the Dutch sprinter. The world champion took Race 1 by a convincing .024 seconds. 

Richardson was the last racer to beat Lavreysen in this event in November 2023 and now needed to win the second race to force a winner-take-all race. Richardson led when the final lap bell struck, but Lavreysen powered ahead down the stretch. 

The Dutch sprinter made it look easy, only needing two races to win the gold in the men’s individual sprint. The heavy Dutch crowd chanted his name as he rose his bike over his head in celebration. He now has two gold medals at the Paris Games and will attempt to complete a hat trick in the men’s keirin event.

Lavreysen was very complimentary of his competitor. "I haven't been beaten a lot in these last years, and if I was beaten it was by Matthew. Seeing him here in the finals, it was hard. I expected it to be hard. The 200m times (in qualifying) were close together."

"He's riding crazy sprint races, doing 9.4 seconds from the front. I didn't even do it this week. A lot of respect to him. He was the best opponent to have in the Olympic final," the champion added.

For Richardson, it was his first individual Olympic medal and he added to the bronze he won in the team sprint earlier this week.

“I’m super proud of how I raced," he said. "I really put it all out the track and didn't leave myself wondering ‘what could it be?’ So I’m proud of the silver for sure.”

Richardson provided perspective for just how dominate Laavreysen has been. “Harry is the greatest cyclist, probably, of all time. He’s a 13-time world champion. He doesn't skip a beat. He wins like basically everything."

“To be close to someone like that, someone who does what Harry does, is amazing to me. It wasn't that many years ago that I was looking at him or how fast he was and how big of a gap there was between him and myself. So to be anywhere close is an amazing feeling for me, and I still pinch myself."

Two of track cycling’s best sprinters faced off in the bronze medal race, but Great Britain's Jack Carlin edged out Jeffrey Hoogland in the third race to win bronze.

Tokyo bronze medalist Carlin faced silver medalist Hoogland of the Netherlands. In a race that looks like a cat-and-mouse chase in the start, Hoogland made the first move. Hoogland controlled the sprint lane on the final lap, however, Carlin came hard down the back stretch. The Brit pulled ahead at the throw to the line for a .017 win in the first of three races.

In the second race, Carlin led at the bell. This time, Hoogland overtook him on the last corner and powered across the finish line in first. The bronze medal showdown would be even at one race a piece.

In the winner-take-all finale, Hoogland led on top of the track while Carlin dropped down to the bottom. Just as things were about to take off, Carlin turned towards the top of the track as Hoogland dropped down and the two collided in dramatic fashion — forcing a restart. Carlin immediately signaled and acknowledged it was his fault.

Hoogland looked very tense while Carlin looked very relaxed after a pause to assess the bikes and repair the track. When the race restarted, Carlin took the lead and Hoogland remained in the back. Carlin moved ahead in front while Hoogland tried to go up high to gain speed. Hoogland then pulled within the back wheel of Carlin but the Brit finished .041 ahead of him. Carlin was ecstatic to win the bronze.

The women’s sprint competition also got underway at the velodrome. After a disappointing finish in the women’s keirin, Germany’s Lea Friedrich set a world record in her qualifying race with a time of 10.029.

New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews, who won the keirin race on Thursday, had set a world record in her race with a time of 10.108 before Friedrich bettered it.

Great Britain’s Emma Finucane finished with a 10.067 in her first race of the day. By the end of the day, all three medal favorites advanced to the 1/8 finals, which will be held on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. ET. They will be joined by France’s Mathilde Gros, Germany’s Emma Hinze, Japan’s Sato Mina and Hetty van de Wouw of the Netherlands, all top competitors in other track races held earlier this week.

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