The American duo of Jennifer Valente and Lily Williams looked to continue their strong Olympic showing after winning the gold in the women’s team pursuit. But it was Italy’s Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini who produced a surprised win in the women’s Madison.
Great Britain’s Elinor Barker and Neah Evans won the last sprint lap to sneak into second, while the Netherlands pair of Maike van der Duin and Lisa van Belle hung on for bronze. The Americans won several sprint laps, but it wasn't enough as they finished just off the podium
The women’s Madison is one of the more confusing events held in the track cycling discipline. It is a relay race for 120 laps where every 10th lap a sprint is held. The scoring can also be a bit confusing for those not familiar: The top four in each sprint receive points (top team receives five points, second team receives four, third team receives two, fourth receives one). If a team can manage to lap the field, they receive 20 points, a difficult feat.
The strategy is to win or place in as many sprints as possible while recovering in the non-sprint laps. Or, to expend maximum effort lapping the field.
The Dutch made the first real move of the race when they lapped the field about midway through the race. It may have been a premature move as the pair looked tired for much of the back-half of the race, which opened the door for other teams.
Italy made a late attack to lap the field after the eighth sprint and won three of the 12 sprints for the top performance of 37 points, an impressive six more than Great Britain. A stunning accomplishment because it was just the second time the pair had rode together in the Madison.
After the race, Guazzini couldn't believe it. "It's really hard to find the words in this moment. We don't believe it. We were motivated, really disappointed after the fourth place in the team pursuit, and we showed that we are a great team. All the girls believed in us. We fought until the end."
The win meant more representing their country, "I think at halfway nobody would believe we could win, but we never give up. We saw we had written Italy on our chest, and this gave us all the motivation in the world.”
Great Britain set the tone on the sprint laps by winning the first lap. They were the most consistent duo in the sprint laps and capitalized on the double-points-last lap to secure the silver medal. There was a small battle for bronze between the Brits and Americans, but the Brits powered ahead in the final lap while the Americans faded.
The Americans did well in the sprints and their consistency had them in second at the midway point. They placed in eight of the 12 sprint laps, but it wasn't enough for the podium with two teams pulling off the 20-point trick. Their fourth-place finish was an improvement for Valente who finished ninth in Tokyo.
