British women add gold and silver to first-day bronzes earned by men

After Britain’s men won bronze in both the team pursuit and team sprint on day one, the women bettered both performances.

Houvenaghel combined with 20-year-old Dani King and 18-year-old Laura Trott to take gold in the three-kilometre team pursuit, and 20-year-old Jessica Varnish and Pendleton claimed silver in the two-lap team sprint.

The men are set to respond today, with Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny to face off in the semi-final of the men’s sprint after progressing from the early rounds yesterday, meaning Britain are guaranteed at least a silver in the event.

After a time of three minutes 23.419 seconds secured Houvenaghel’s third team pursuit world title in four years, with the United States second, the 36-year-old said: “It’s really special. It’s incredible to be on that top spot on the podium again and that’s where we want to stay.

“These girls have come a long way in a short space of time and over the next 16 months there’s a lot of leeway to improve a lot more and I’m very excited about the prospect of us performing in London.”

Sam Harrison will compete in the omnium today in place of Barnsley’s Ed Clancy, laid low by a virus.