PARIS, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- World record holder, world champion and defending Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen won another gold medal with a supreme display of sprinting to beat Matthew Richardson of Australia to win the cycling track men's sprint title at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
Lavreysen has been untouchable since setting a new world record in qualification and he gave Richardson no option.
In the first of the best-of-three races, Richardson came strongly off the final bend and was centimeters away from catching Lavreysen on the line, but the Dutch rider was just able to hold off his challenge.
"I felt really really good today, it was my best day ever but riding [the last 200 meters] in 9.4 it's insane," commented Lavreysen, who admitted he had tried to keep something in the tank in his previous rounds.
"I try to keep my strength and not do too much, so I can go all in in the final: the tournament is three days, I have to save everything for the final," he added.
The Dutch rider had also won men's team sprint earlier in the week and said winning on his own was different.
"With a team you celebrate together, but on your own you can only blame yourself, so I try to do both," he commented, adding that he aimed to look for an Olympic sprint triple in Los Angeles.
In the second of the best-of-three final, Richardson tried to lead out the sprint, but Lavreysen swooped down from high off the boards to pick up speed and overtake his rival on the final curve and win gold without the need of a third race, although Richardson was rightly proud of his silver medal.
"Harrie 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 Harrie 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," said the Australian.
Both riders qualified for the final after just two rides of the semifinals, with Lavreysen giving Jack Carlin of Britain no options, while Richardson also controlled his semifinal against Jeffrey Hoogland.
In the ride-off for bronze, Carlin produced a late burst to beat Hoogland in the first race.
Hoogland was faster in the second race, producing a quick last 200 meters to force a third race and Carlin was perhaps lucky not to be disqualified from that race after he crashed into the Dutch rider, albeit at very low speed.
He was allowed to continue and then powered home to repeat the bronze medal he won in Tokyo three years ago.
