Ed Clancy won bronze in London and Mark Cavendish won silver in Rio; in Tokyo the 23-year-old Matt Walls completed the set, finally delivering Olympic omnium gold for Great Britain with a complete display of powerful sprinting and tactical nous.
Here, the omnium – a battle to accumulate points over several disciplines – was reduced from six events over two days to four packed into three gruelling hours, but what was so eye-catching was the apparent ease with which Walls dominated a highly competitive field.
Walls is the reigning European champion and he laid down a marker with victory in the opening scratch race, before finishing third in the tempo and second in the elimination, to lead the 20-man competition heading into the points race finale. And despite the early attack of reigning Olympic champion Elia Viviani, Walls stayed calm to clinch comprehensive gold.
He racked up 153 points, well clear of his nearest challenger Campbell Stewart of New Zealand, who finished with 129 and snatched silver from Viviani in the final lap of the points race. The disappointed Italian took bronze with 124.
“I managed to get a good lead coming into the end, so I was just playing it really,” Walls said. “It’s been a hard day but I came into that points race with a bit of a lead which was nice, it gave me a bit of breathing room. Thank you to all my family and friends, I wouldn’t be here without them – especially my parents when I was young, growing up, travelling around the country racing.”
more to follow…