Laura Trott wins fourth Olympic cycling gold with omnium victory
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 17/08/16 8:29am
Laura Trott has become the most successful female British Olympian in history after completing a dominant victory in the omnium.
The 24-year-old has now won four Olympic gold medals during her career and two at Rio 2016, having already triumphed in the team pursuit on Saturday and previously claimed two golds at London 2012.
She joins Sir Ben Ainslie and Sir Matthew Pinsent as a four-time Olympic champion and trails only Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Jason Kenny, her fiance, in Britain's all-time list.
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Trott won three of the omnium's six races, finished second in two others and eventually beat the USA's Sarah Hammer into second place overall by 24 points and Belgium's Jolien D'hoore into third by 31 points.
Trott told BBC Sport: "You think of people like Sir Chris Hoy, who do it time and time again. To be able to repeat my success in London, I can't even explain what I going through. I'm so, so happy."
Trott went into the second day of the competition with an eight-point overnight lead and extended that to 24 by finishing second in the 500m time trial and then brilliantly winning the flying lap.
The concluding points race was made up of 100 laps, with sprints every 10 laps offering five, three, two and one point for the first four riders over the line, while 20 points were available to any rider who lapped the field.
Trott could have ridden on the defensive but instead struck a mental blow by picking up points in the early sprints and then vigilantly chased down all attacks from rivals who were desperate to gain a lap on her.
One move saw all the leaders lap the field together, and when Trott subsequently went into the final 30 laps 31 points ahead, Hammer and D'hoore all but gave up on gold and instead started battling each other for silver.
