GB women reclaim team pursuit crown

Blistering gold medal ride fuels squad's confidence a year out from the Paris Olympics

After nine years away from the top step at the World Championships, Great Britain’s women’s team pursuit squad won a resounding gold medal on home soil in Glasgow last Saturday.

The team – composed of Katie Archibald, Josie Knight, Anna Morris, Elinor Barker, and Meg Barker, who rode in the first round – clocked a time of 4:08.771, beating New Zealand in the final by over four and a half seconds. The victory was met with rapturous applause inside the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and when the team stepped off their bikes, they received a guard of honour from the GB staff.

The last time the women’s squad won the rainbow jersey in the team pursuit, Elinor Barker was just 19 years old and riding her first World Championships, alongside Archibald. “When Katie and I joined the programme in 2013 and 2014 – our first Worlds – we were kind of at the back end of this huge success story,” the now 28-year-old said. “Mostly Dani [King], Laura [Kenny] and Jo [Rowsell] had won everything, and every time they got on the track, they broke a world record.