Paris Olympics 2024: Ethan Hayter misses out on men's omnium medal, Benjamin Thomas claims gold
ByOli Gent
Published 08/08/2024 at 19:56 GMT+1
Ethan Hayter missed his chance to medal in the men's omnium as he finished eighth in the rankings at Paris 2024. Hayter, the two-time world champion in 2021 and 2022, won a dramatic elimination race earlier in the day but was outdone in the final points race. He came into it in fifth and in medal contention, but his nine points in the sprints were not enough to stop him slipping to eighth place.
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Great Britain's Ethan Hayter missed the chance to add an Olympic medal to his collection as he finished eighth in the men's omnium at Paris 2024.
Hayter, the two-time world champion in 2021 and 2022, could not build on his victory in the elimination race at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome in the deciding points race, where France's Benjamin Thomas picked himself up off the track to speed to gold for the host nation.
Hayter began the race well, picking up points in the opening two sprints, but he could not keep up with the pace-setters as Thomas, a two-time omnium world champion in 2017 and 2020, recovered from a big collision, where he caught the back wheel of fellow medal contender Fabio den Bossche, to take gold.
Thomas ended the race with 26 sprint points, picking up an additional 40 points for lapping the field twice.
He was joined in the breakaway group by Iuri Leitao, the Portuguese who picked up silver, and Albert Torres Barcelo, while bronze medallist Den Bossche, Elia Viviani, and Tim Wafler also picked up an extra 20 lap points.
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Hayter ended the race with nine sprint points to his name but could not keep up with the breakaway group, who sped clear of him, and the Briton ended the day with a total of 97.
The day began with the scratch race, a 15-kilometre encounter where the first over the line wins, and it was Thomas who was roared home in top spot to open proceedings, while Hayter, who finished sixth, lost a lap.
The tempo race followed, with Den Bossche winning, and Thomas only scoring one point down in 11th.
Hayter, one place lower, did not score, but seemingly emptied the tank to win the elimination race and put himself in a good position to compete for a place on the podium.
That, however, did not materialise, and he told Eurosport's Adam Blythe of his fatigue in the final race.
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PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 08: Ethan Hayter of Team Great Britain celebrates as winner after the Men's Omnium Elimination Race 3/4 on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on August 08, 2024 in Paris, France.
Image credit: Getty Images
"I just really wasn’t myself today from the start," Hayter explained.
He continued: "A really good elimination race, but I just stopped at the track in this points race, normally that is my race. Actually, I have not been on the bike for an omnium this Olympic cycle.
"That’s really disappointing, but those three guys that got the medals really deserved it. I don’t know if I have lost fitness in the team pursuit or I just shook myself by going too hard yesterday.
"I was feeling strong but the in the accelerations I just had nothing. I don’t know, I felt like the gear was too small but I was on 112, which is pretty decent for a points race. I’ve got no excuses.
"I wanted to win, I normally do it at the Worlds, the last two. In the last Worlds, I did the team pursuit and then won the omnium, so I knew I could do it but for whatever reason I hadn’t had the legs. It’s a shame."
"I wanted to win, I normally do it at the Worlds, the last two. In the last Worlds, I did the team pursuit and then won the omnium, so I knew I could do it but for whatever reason I hadn’t had the legs. It’s a shame."
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CARLIN ADVANCES TO SPRINT SEMIS AT SECOND ATTEMPT, TURNBULL CRASHES OUT
There was mixed success for Team GB in the men's individual sprint quarter-finals earlier that evening, with Hamish Turnbull losing out to Dutchman Jeffrey Hoogland in his best-of-three encounter.
Turnbull won the first race by 0.079 seconds, but was forced into a decider after Hoogland pipped him to the line in a photo finish that showed the Dutchman had won by 0.007 seconds.
However, the Briton was beaten in the third and final face-off, crossing the line 0.276 seconds behind his opponent.
Jack Carlin, however, seemed as though he was heading out of the competition against Kaiya Ota, the Japanese rider, when he was eked out bu 0.046 seconds in his first race, and he then lost the second before Ota was relegated for being overly forceful when the two collided in the sprint finish.
A decider was demanded, and Carlin did enough at the death, craning his head as far as it would go to cross 0.014 seconds ahead of his opponent.
Carlin will now face Harrie Lavreysen, the defending champion, in the semi-finals on Friday, while Hoogland will go up against Matthew Richardson of Australia.
Turnbull was seen off by Ota in the fifth-eighth place race, crossing the line 0.102 seconds behind the Japanese, ending the competition in sixth place.
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