Kenny edges ahead in final

Jason Kenny, left, look the lead in his best-of-three Olympic sprint final
6 August 2012

Great Britain's Jason Kenny took the lead in his best-of-three Olympic sprint final with Gregory Bauge of France at the London 2012 velodrome.

Both cyclists made serene progress to the final of the track's blue riband event, with Kenny beating Trinidad's Njisane Nicholas Phillip 2-0 in his best-of-three semi-final and Bauge seeing off Australia's Shane Perkins in the other last-four tie.

Bauge was drawn on the inside, which meant he had to go in front of Kenny, turning to watch his opponent.

Kenny weaved up and down the banking to tease Bauge and then used the slope to his advantage to speed past his rival and win by a wheel's length and go 1-0 up.

The one rider per nation rule introduced by the International Cycling Union and International Olympic Committee weakened the field and saw Kenny selected ahead of 2008 winner Sir Chris Hoy.

Kenny finished second to Hoy in Beijing and to Bauge at April's Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne.

The Briton was awarded the 2011 world title after Bauge was stripped of the rainbow jersey for an anti-doping infringement. Perkins took a 1-0 lead over Phillip in the battle for bronze.

In the corresponding women's event, Victoria Pendleton eased to a comfortable victory in the first bout of her best-of-three quarter-final with Olga Panarina of Belarus.

Laura Trott was third after two events of the two-day omnium. The 20-year-old world omnium champion from Cheshunt won team pursuit gold on Saturday and clocked 14.057 seconds in the flying lap to win the opening event.

Trott finished 10th in the 20km (80 lap) points race, winning the final sprint as Poland's Malgorzata Wojtyra won as one of nine riders to lap the field and claim 20 points. Trott was the leading rider behind those who gained a lap, but slipped one point off the pace as Sarah Hammer of the United States took the lead after two events on 10 points, with Canada's Tara Whitten second on count back.

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