Becky James adds keirin world title to sprint win

becky, james, sprint, world champion, track

Becky James added the keirin world title to yesterday's sprint victory to become the first British rider in history to score four medals at a single Track World Championships.

Despite tired legs after winning a bronze in the team sprint (with Victoria Williamson), a bronze in the 500-metre time trial and taking the sprint title on Saturday, James cruised through the keirin to grab her second rainbow jersey in Minsk.

"I can't even tell you. It's going to take a good week for it to sink in, or two weeks, or a month," said James after collecting her second rainbow jersey in as many days.

"I just need someone to pinch me and tell me if it's really happening to me. I feel like it's a complete dream apart from the pain in my legs."

James's second world title has crowned a successful post-London 2012 championships for Britain, where young riders have shown that there's plenty of talent rising through the ranks to replace retirees Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton.

A total of five world titles have been secured by British riders over the five days of competition in Belarus - amazingly, Simon Yates (points race) and Elinor Barker (team pursuit) have won titles in their debut senior World Championships.

Defending 2012 omnium world champion Laura Trott couldn't quite add to her team pursuit gold, claiming silver behind American Sarah Hammer in the multi-discipline event.

There was no question in Trott's mind that she had favoured the team pursuit over the omnium: "I wanted to win them both again, but I tried my best and a better rider beat me on the day," Trott said of Hammer.

"I normally leave it to the 500m. I came here hoping I wouldn't do that.

"The points race let me down again. She [Hammer] beat me by seven places in the points race and overall by four."

Great Britain's 2013 track world champions

Becky James - sprint

Becky James - keirin

Jason Kenny - keirin

Simon Yates - points race

Dani King, Laura Trott and Elinor Barker - team pursuit

Results: Day five

Women's omnium

Individual pursuit

1. Sarah Hammer (USA)

2. Gillian Carleton (Can)

3. Laura Trott (GBr)

Scratch race

1. Els Belmans (Bel)

2. Laura Berthon (Fra)

3. Laura Trott (GBr)

Time trial

1. Gillian Carleton (Can)

2. Annette Edmondson (Aus)

3. Tamara Balabolina (Rus)

4. Laura Trott (GBr)

Final standings

1. Sarah Hammer (USA)

2. Laura Trott (GBr)

3. Annette Edmondson (Aus)

Women's keirin

1. Becky James (GBr)

2. Jinjie Gong (Chn)

3. Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez (Cub)

...

12. Victoria Williamson (GBr)

Men's sprint

1. Stefan Botticher (Ger)

2. Denis Dmitriev (Rus)

3. Francois Pervis (Fra)

...

7. Kason Kenny (GBr)

12. Matthew Crampton (GBr)

20. Philip Hindes (GBr)

Men's Madison

1. France (Vivien Brisse, Morgan Kneisky)

2. Spain (David Muntaner, Albert Torres)

3. Germany (Henning Bommel, Theo Reinhardt)

...

11. Great Britain (Owain Doull, Simon Yates)

Becky James in the keirin

Laura Trott in the omnium individual pursuit

Related links

Day four: Becky James becomes sprint world champion

Day three: Jason Kenny and Simon Yates strike gold for GB

2013 Track World Championships coverage page

Day two: Martyn Irvine and GB women earn gold in Minsk

Day one: Silver and bronze for Great Britain

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Nigel Wynn
Former Associate Editor

Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.