Double Gold For Trott At European Track Championships

Ben Campbell,

Correspondent (Sport)

 

Since taking over the mantle as the poster girl of British cycling from Victoria Pendleton at London 2012, Laura Trott has gone from strength to strength and now stands as one of the most influential British sportswoman. This past week, Trott took to the track in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, to cement her place as Britain’s strongest female cyclist, taking home two gold medals to follow up on her outstanding double gold at last year’s Olympics and world track championships.

First up was the Team Pursuit. Lining up alongside Trott were fellow Olympic gold medalists Dani King, current World Champion Elinor Barker and Scotland’s Kate Archibald. After cruising into the final, the quartet soundly defeated their Polish counterparts beating them by eight seconds and recording a new World Record of four minutes 26.453 seconds.

The omnium was not quite so simple. Up against home favourite Kirsten Wild, the favourite to take the title, Trott faced a much sterner test than the one she had been subjected to, two days previously. Comprising six different events, the omnium takes place over the course of a day with the rider with the lowest points total at the end taking home the gold medal. After all 6 events had been completed, Trott and Wild were level on 15 points apiece.

In this situation, the count back rule is applied, with the racer with the lowest overall time from the flying lap, individual pursuit and 500m time trial taking the title. Edging out Wild by only 0.4 seconds, Trott took home her second gold of the Championship, much to the disappointment of the home crowd. Trott’s fairytale few years in the sport continue.

It is sometimes easy to forget that Trott, already among the all-time elite of women’s cycling, is only 21 and could remain at the forefront of women’s track cycling for the foreseeable future. This week’s European Championships certainly did little to make anyone doubt that and if anything, offered an indication that Trott could continue to dominate for years to come.

Image Courtesy: Jan Kruger/Getty Images (http://www.flickr.com/photos/surreynews/8957108675/)