Jennifer Valente Wins Olympic Gold in Women’s Omnium Cycling

Jennifer Valente celebrated her remarkable victory at the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on Sunday, concluding her Olympic journey with a flourish by defending her title in the omnium and securing her second gold medal within four days.

The United States claimed several medals during the cycling events at the Paris Games, with the flag of the Stars and Stripes flying high on multiple occasions. Overall, the American team earned three gold medals and a total of six, marking their best performance in the Olympics in the last four decades.

At 29 years old, Valente finished the omnium with an impressive 144 points, significantly ahead of Poland’s Daria Pikulik and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston, who rounded out the podium. Valente expressed her excitement, saying, “It’s been a really long week of racing. I raced (in the team pursuit) qualifying over a week ago, and we had some really good performances, so to pull it off on the last day, I’m really excited.”

Teammate Kristen Faulkner also shone brightly in Paris, bringing home two gold medals, one from the Olympic road race and the other as part of the winning team pursuit alongside Valente, Lily Williams, and Chloe Dygert. The three gold medals and six overall is the highest total for the U.S. cycling squad since the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

In earlier cycling events, Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands clinched his third gold medal in Paris, triumphing in the men’s keirin final against strong competition from Australian cyclists Matthew Glaetzer and Matthew Richardson. Meanwhile, Ellesse Andrews from New Zealand won her second gold medal and third overall by prevailing in sprint finals against Lea Friedrich of Germany.

The final cycling session commenced with the scratch race, an opening event in the omnium requiring riders to cover 30 laps as swiftly as possible. Valente, adeptly employing strategy reminiscent of her performance at the Tokyo Games, maneuvered through competitors skillfully to secure valuable points. Notably, a clash between two contenders, Lotte Kopecky of Belgium and Neah Evans of Britain, affected their chances; Kopecky finished 17th and Evans fell to the back of the pack.

In the tempo race, Valente strategically formed an alliance with Pikulik and Georgia Baker, capturing the lion’s share of the points. Her commanding presence continued into the elimination race, where she succeeded in outpacing her rivals to secure further maximum points.

By the time Valente entered the points race, she held a solid 10-point advantage. She seized the opportunity to earn a critical 20-point bonus by taking a lap on the field with just 36 laps remaining, bolstering her lead further.

With a comfortable advantage, Valente utilized a cautious approach, mindful of the competition trailing her. She explained, “I definitely went into a points race looking at the couple of people that were trailing me and the points gap. I was pretty happy to let some other people take points and just let the race evolve.”

In the keirin event, a notable upset occurred when world champion Kevin Quintero of Colombia and two-time world silver medalist Jeffrey Hoogland of the Netherlands were both eliminated in the quarterfinals, where only the top four riders progressed.

The keirin final was not without drama, marred by a serious collision involving Japan’s Kaiya Ota and British rider Jack Carlin. As Ota swerved onto the track, Carlin fell heavily but fortunately was able to walk off after receiving medical attention.

Lavreysen completed his remarkable week after narrowly missing the trifecta at the Tokyo Games, where he had secured gold in both sprint events but took home a bronze in the keirin. “I felt really strong the entire week,” he reflected. “This morning, I thought, ‘It is possible’ — but I needed to ride the perfect final, and I was really close.”

Richardson also had a commendable outing, securing silver in the keirin to add to his previous silver in the sprint and bronze in the team sprint. Glaetzer earned his second bronze for Australia after participating in the team sprint.

Andrews showcased her prowess in the sprint finals, defeating Friedich in both races, marking the culmination of her aspirations cultivated over many years. She stated, “I’ve been sprinting since I was 19. I’ve been riding a track bike since I was 13 or 14. It’s been a 10-year dream to be here and not one that I always thought was possible.”

In the contest for bronze, British cyclist Emma Finucane triumphed over Dutch rider Hetty van de Wouw, winning both races convincingly. Finucane expressed her determination, noting, “I would have loved to win gold, but that bronze medal means everything to me. For the last two races, I gave everything. I have nothing else to give.”