DAME Laura Kenny delivered Commonwealth gold for England on the final day of track cycling in the Lee Valley VeloPark.
A late burst of speed saw Kenny overhaul Great Britain team-mate Neah Evans and then hold off New Zealand’s Michaela Drummond and Canada’s Maggie Coles-Lyster at the end of a crash-interrupted women’s scratch race.
Kenny had downplayed her form over the weekend, claiming to be the weakest link in England’s bronze-winning team pursuit squad before finishing a lowly 13th in Sunday’s points race, but found the pace needed to claim her first Commonwealth gold since Glasgow in 2014.
England's first gold on the track, and of course it was Queen Kenny 👑@LauraKenny31 saves a surge of energy to sprint to the 10km scratch race title for @TeamEngland 🥇#B2022 pic.twitter.com/B08wieKl7l
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) August 1, 2022
The 40-lap race was neutralised midway through after India’s Meenakshi Meenakshi collided with Ariane Bonhomme, sending the Canadian down before she was hit by a helpless Bryony Botha of New Zealand. Racing was stopped as Bonhomme was carried out on a stretcher.
After the action resumed, Kenny’s England team-mates Sophie Lewis and Grace Lister both tried attacks inside the final 10 laps.
But it was when Scotland’s Evans broke clear that Lewis provided a lead-out for Kenny and she finished it off over the final laps – roared home by the London crowd with decibel levels reminiscent of the London Olympics a decade ago.
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