The German team sprinters reached the final at the Track Cycling World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in a world record time and are therefore reaching for their third gold medal in a row.
Pauline Grabosch, Emma Hinze and Lea Sophie Friedrich were stopped in 45.983 seconds on the first lap on the Olympic track in Paris 2024 and even topped their fabulous time from the 2021 World Championships in Roubaix (46.064). In the final, the German trio meets the Chinese Yufang Guo, Shanju Bao and Liying Yuan (46.458).
Hinze and Co. had already set the best time in qualifying, after having made a false start at first. The German sprinters are among the major contenders for medals in the title fights.
In the past two years, Hinze and Friedrich had shared all short-term world championship titles among themselves. After the team sprint, the two series world champions still compete in the sprint, 500-meter time trial and keirin.
Somewhat surprisingly, the German team sprinters can also dream of a medal. Nik Schröter, Stefan Bötticher and Maximilian Dörnbach narrowly defeated hosts France (43.063) in their run in 43.003 seconds and now meet Great Britain in the small final. Australia and the Netherlands will face off in the final.
