...AND THEN THERE WERE NINE
Frankly it would have been a surprise had Chris Hoy not won the Keirin.
He's been unbeatable all winter in the World Cups and had a 22-race unbeaten run spanning a 12-month period of competition.
But it was close. He went from a long way out, but then he's always been one to lead from the front in the Keirin. Teun Mulder of the Netherlands got closest, but not close enough.
Last night Hoy won the sprint. Less than 24 hours later and he's a world champion again.
It was Great Britain's third gold of the day - following Victoria Pendleton in the sprint and Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in the Madison - and their ninth of a record-breaking championships.
In fact, of the 14 gold medals contested so far, Great Britain have won nine of them.
The other competitors are fighting over some very small crumbs indeed. Only Belarus (2), France, Cuba and the Netherlands have won gold so far this week with one day of competition remaining.
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Chris Hoy?s success in the keirin brought the house down in the velodrome as Britain hit nine world titles. The Scot admitted he was tired after competing for four days on the track but nothing was going to stop him crossing the line first in the keirin.
?It was important for me to get to the motorbike and control it, I wanted to pick up the pace. My legs were very tired and the last lap was really hard and I was just really happy to get over the line first.?
?It?s been a fantastic championships for all the team and for me. To win two gold and a silver is way beyond what I expected. The sprint title was a huge surprise. O knew the keirin was possible but you can never expect to win because it?s such an unpredictable event.?
?Everybody will raise their game for Beijing and so there?ll be no complacency on our part. I think we can improve as well because of the confidence we?ll gain from these results.
2008 TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: DAILY REPORTS
Sunday, day five>>
Saturday, day four>>
Friday, day three>>
Thursday, day two>>
Wednesday, day one>>
RELATED LINKS
Women's Keirin: Reed denies Pendleton the perfect finish
Who are Brit's golden nine?
Hoy wins the Keirin
Eighth gold for Britain in the Madison
Gold for Pendleton in the sprint
Chris Hoy wins sprint gold
Pursuit women take fifth British gold medal
Jo Rowsell's gold: the toast of Sutton Cycling Club
Belarussian wins men's points race
Britain going for more gold on Friday
Comment: How many more gold for GB?
Hat-trick of golds for Britain
Britain break team pursuit world record
GB into women's team pursuit final
Gold for Romero in individual pursuit
Reade and Pendleton cruise into team sprint final
Track World Champs: results
Romero breaks British pursuit record
It's Britain vs Denmark in team pursuit final
Britain aiming for team pursuit world record
Britain take silver in team sprint
Crowd step in as French anthem stalls
Hayles denies cheating after failing blood test
Wiggins: "I'm pleased I got the job done"
Wiggins wins pursuit gold
Brailsford defends Hayles after failed blood test
Hayles fails pre-race blood test at Track Worlds
Cycling Weekly's 2008 Track World Championships preview
PHOTO GALLERIES
CW's online gallery section>>
Day three in pictures
Day two in pictures
Day one in pictures
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Sports journalist Lionel Birnie has written professionally for Sunday Times, Procycling and of course Cycling Weekly. He is also an author, publisher, and co-founder of The Cycling Podcast. His first experience covering the Tour de France came in 1999, and he has presented The Cycling Podcast with Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe since 2013. He founded Peloton Publishing in 2010 and has ghostwritten and published the autobiography of Sean Kelly, as well as a number of other sports icons.
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