Becky James and Katy Marchant win Olympic sprint silver and bronze

By Matt Westby

Image: Becky James (left) and Katy Marchant (right) won sprint silver and bronze

Becky James won silver and Katy Marchant took bronze in the Olympic women's individual sprint at Rio 2016.

James was beaten 2-0 in the gold-medal final by Germany's Kristina Vogel, while Marchant defeated the Netherlands' Elis Ligtlee 2-0 in the third-place play-off.

James' progression to the final rounded off an excellent week of racing in which she also won silver in the keirin and re-announced herself as one of the best sprinters in the world following two years of injury and illness.

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Image: James claimed her second silver medal of Rio 2016

Marchant, meanwhile, claimed her first Olympic medal and in doing so ensured every member of Britain's Olympic track team had visited the podium in Rio.

James said: "I couldn't ask for much more. A year ago I was in a training camp in Valencia and it was my first one back [from injury] and I was so off the pace.

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"If I could have seen myself now back then, I would never had expected this. It's a good thing to look back on. I've just felt incredible being here and I'm really, really happy with how I raced."

Image: Marchant won her first Olympic medal

Both riders breezed into the semi-finals with 2-0 wins in the best-of-three quarter-finals and although James secured another 2-0 to beat Ligtlee in the semis, Marchant fell to a 2-0 defeat to Vogel.

Marchant secured a 2-0 triumph over Ligtlee in the bronze final in a photo finish in the second heat, but James was unable to trouble a dominant Vogel.

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