GREAT BRITAIN’S men’s pursuit team may have seen their hopes of a gold medal slip away on a dramatic final lap but, for Yorkshire’s Charlie Tanfield and Ollie Wood, they were still able to lay the ghosts of Tokyo 2020 to rest.

Three years ago, Tanfield of Great Ayton and Wood flew home from Japan with their tails between their legs after a chastening experience in their first Olympic Games.

After three Olympic cycles in which GB – including Yorkshire great Ed Clancy – had won gold in the event, a seventh-place finish was a dramatic fall from grace.

Both Tanfield and Wood, from Wakefield, vowed to set the record straight in Paris, something they were able to achieve - despite coming off second-best against Australia, who took the gold medal in a thrilling race.

SILVER DREAM MACHINE: Wakefield's Oliver Wood, Ethan Vernon, Great Ayton's Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Hayter and Daniel Bingham celebrate winning silver in the Men's Team Pursuit Final at the National Velodrome in Paris. Picture: David Davies/PA

Australia had been narrowly ahead on the time splits for almost the entire race, but were eventually able to ease over the line after Ethan Hayter lost control of his bike and narrowly avoided a nasty crash with Vernon and Tanfield.

Competitive again after the Tokyo Games saw them lose the crown they had held for so long, the GB team were left to wonder what might have been after the bizarre incident.

Wood, who had helped get GB into the gold medal race in yesterday’s qualifiers, made way for Hayter in the grand finale, but all five members of the team will receive a medal.

For Tanfield, there was nothing but pride in the team’s achievement - the 1,000th medal in Team GB’s Olympic history - particularly after the disappointment of Tokyo.

SILVER LINING: Charlie Tanfield, pictured after the Men's Team Pursuit gold medal Final at the National Velodrome, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Picture: David Davies/PA

“Tokyo was a terrible experience,” said Tanfield. “There's no way around it for me and I felt like I had to do myself justice to come back and do it here.

“And I'm super proud of how far I've come over the years and I'm really grateful to ride, it's not even easy to get in the team, let alone be here.

“We put it all on the line and we just fell short but we can still be super proud of what we've done here.”

Wood, watching from the sidelines, added: “I was just stood there shaking and sweating more than these lads probably.

IN THE ZONE: Wakefield's Ollie Wood, pictured ahead of the first round of the men's team pursuit in Paris. Picture: AP/Thibault Camus

“We did great rides to come here and to get where we are and, after Tokyo, I think it just made us all hungry.

“The dream never died and we've come here and won a silver medal - we can all be proud of doing that.”

Australia, who had set a new world record in Tuesday’s first round, got their noses in front after the first couple of laps and stayed there, albeit narrowly, for the rest of the race.

Hayter, who had been GB’s strongest rider in the first two rounds, was fighting to bring back the deficit when it all went wrong and he slipped forward on the bike, dropping down on to his top tube and unable to lift himself back up.

Shortly after, Elinor Barker, Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Jess Roberts followed up with a bronze in the women’s team pursuit.

The quartet were behind Italy for much of the race but came storming back in the final kilometre to win by two and a half seconds.

It was a strong result for a team that had to quickly recalibrate their plans for these Games after two-time Olympic champion Katie Archibald, one of the strongest track riders in the world, broke her ankle in June to be ruled out of the Games.

Charlie Tanfield and Ollie Wood enjoy silver lining in men's team pursuit at Paris 2024 Olympics