Sunday 10 November 2019 07:25, UK
Katy Marchant ended a long wait for victory as she claimed gold in dramatic fashion in the women's keirin at the UCI Track World Cup in Glasgow.
The 26-year-old, who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, celebrated her first win since the National Championships at the start of 2018 as she beat Germany's Emma Hinze in a photo finish at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
It was a significant moment for Marchant, who spent last winter toiling at every leg of the World Cup in search of Olympic qualification points before deciding to focus only on the individual events.
"It's massive," Marchant said of victory. "Obviously I'm gutted not to be able to contest the team sprints but it's given me an opportunity to focus on the individual events.
"I've had a really good summer of training, I knew I was in good shape and I was getting faster. To come away with a win in the keirin today, I'm super happy.
"I'm definitely not at my peak yet and there's so much more to come. To get the win today I still didn't perfect it so it's really exciting going forward."
Marchant's was the second medal of the night for Great Britain after Ollie Wood and Ethan Hayter secured silver in the men's Madison behind the French pairing of Benjamin Thomas and Donavan Grondin.
Wood and Hayter picked up two early laps and then, after struggling in the middle section of the race, found their legs again late on to take a podium place.
There was also hope of a medal for Jason Kenny in the quarter-finals of the men's individual sprint but he lost out to reigning world champion and eventual winner Harrie Lavreysen.
