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A23
SPORTS Friday 28 February 2020
U.S. women's pursuit takes gold at track cycling championships

BERLIN (AP) — Once again, look at who the competi-
the Americans will head to tion is. We run our race and
the Olympics as the gold- that's what we did."
medal favorite in the wom- The keirin was shaken up in
en's team pursuit. the semifinals, when reign-
The question now is wheth- ing Olympic champion
er they can finish the job. Jason Kenny failed to ad-
The quartet of Chloe vance.
Dygert, Jennifer Valente, That made the path easi-
Emma White and Lily Wil- er for Lavreysen, who has
liams roared to the world been part of three straight
championship at the Berlin world champion sprint
Velodrome on Thursday, teams. He went three-wide
easily beating back the entering the final lap and
reigning Olympic cham- held off silver medalist Yuta
pions from Britain. Their Wakimoto of Japan and
winning time of 4 minutes, Azizulhasni Awang of Ma-
11.235 seconds stamped laysia.
them as the team to beat "I can't really believe it. Yes-
at the Tokyo Games later terday a world title, today
this summer. a world title. It's insane,"
"We've had quite the jour- Lavreysen said. "I really
ney in the last couple of didn't do a lot in the begin-
years," White said. "This is ning, but in the semifinal I
good but it's not over with The USA team, Lily Williams, from left, Emma White, Chloe Dygert, and Jennifer Valente celebrate really picked up my pace
the Olympics this summer, winning the gold medal at the awards ceremony for the World Championship final of the Women and I had a big plan for the
but we're excited." Team Pursuit event in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. Associated Press final and it worked out per-
In other events on Day 2 fectly."
of the track cycling world gold. Dygert and Valente pointing. The U.S. went out riders and pressed on with There was little drama in
championships, Dutch rider are back from the Ameri- hot on Thursday, putting just three. the men's pursuit final af-
Harrie Lavreysen added to can team that won gold 1.75 seconds into the British The Americans lost a few ter the Danish team twice
his team sprint gold from at the 2016 world champi- team of Elinor Barker, Katie tenths of a second down broke the world record in
Wednesday by capturing onships ahead of the Rio Archibald, Eleanor Dick- the stretch, but wound up previous rounds, sending it
the keirin title. And the Dan- Games. But along with Sar- inson and Neah Evans by winning by 1.894 seconds. into the finals against New
ish men's pursuit team of ah Hammer and the late the first 1,000 meters. The "It's always special to win," Zealand a heavy favorite.
Rasmus Pedersen, Frederik Kelly Catlin, the team fell to advantage increased to said Dygert, the road time Denmark had reached the
Rodenberg Madsen, Lasse their longtime rivals in the more than 2 1/2 seconds trial world champion who same straight as the Kiwis
Norman Hansen and Julius Olympic finals, relegated by the midway point of will be favored to win gold with about 500 meters to
Johnson broke their own to a silver medal that was the race, when the British in individual pursuit later in go, and the team crossed
world record in winning both rewarding and disap- squad dropped one of its the week. "You try not to the finish line in 3:44.672.q

Marathon

Continued from Page 17 and Paralympic Games."
The Olympic marathon is
Pound said if the coronavi- scheduled to be staged in
rus outbreak poses a threat Sapporo, a couple hours
too great to hold the Olym- from Tokyo. The event was
pics in Tokyo, the games moved to protect the run-
likely would be cancelled ners from the heat in Tokyo.
instead of postponed or Ward said the trials "creates
moved. a stage on its own and an
Tokyo organizing commit- Olympic feel on its own."
tee CEO Toshiro Muto on "My feeling of competing
Wednesday responded in and crossing the finish
to Pound's comments by line in the Olympic trials
calling a news confer- in 2016 was as exciting as In this March 15, 2015, file photo, Jared Ward, from Provo, Utah, crosses the finish line at the Los
ence to say plans are be- crossing the finish line in Rio Angeles Marathon in Santa Monica, Calif.
ing made to proceed with later that year," Ward said. Associated Press
a safe Olympics. "Our basic "So I think there's still some- ago and has spread to "I try to listen to podcasts world athletics champi-
thoughts are that we will thing to race for, regardless South Korea, the Middle and read articles about onships in Nanjing, China,
go ahead with the Olym- of what happens later on East and Europe. Japan it, but me worrying about were postponed until 2021
pic and Paralympic Games down the line. I'm excited itself has reported four what the coronavirus does due to the coronavirus.
as scheduled," Muto said, to be a part of that and to deaths. in six months doesn't help That postponement, com-
speaking in Japanese. "For embrace that opportunity." "I'm not like an infectious me on Saturday," Fauble bined with Pound's warn-
the time being, the situa- The viral outbreak is respon- disease expert and I try to said. Riley, who led U.S. run- ing, gives cause for con-
tion of the coronavirus in- sible for more than 2,700 be educated," said Scott ners by finishing ninth in the cern.
fection is, admittedly, diffi- deaths and has infected Fauble, whose finished 2019 Chicago Marathon, "It's there in the back of my
cult to predict, but we will more than 80,000 people seventh in the 2019 Boston noted another major event mind but I'm trying not to
take measures such that globally. The outbreak be- Marathon. He was the top already was postponed. think about it too much," Ri-
we'll have a safe Olympic gan in China two months American in the field. On Jan. 29, the indoor ley said.q