Track Cycling Worlds: Elinor Barker & Emily Nelson win madison silver

Elinor Barker and Emily Nelson won a historic madison silver for Great Britain at the World Track Cycling Championships in Hong Kong.

The pair finished behind Belgium's Lotte Kopecky and Jolien D'Hoore, with Australia third, as women raced in the event for the first time at a Worlds.

"I was nervous because we'd only ridden one each before. We didn't know what to expect," Barker, a double team pursuit world champion, told BBC Sport.

It was GB's fourth medal of the Worlds.

Katie Archibald won omnium gold on Friday, adding to silver for Barker and bronze for Chris Latham in the scratch races.

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"I'm not surprised at all by the Belgians winning - they are a madison nation, so hats off to them, they were impressive," said Barker, 22.

Nelson, 20, added: "I'm really happy. That was such an exciting race. I can't wait to do more of them. I think it should be in the Olympic programme."

Australia's team recovered from a crash with about a third of the race to go - Amy Cure knocked into her partner Alexandra Manly - and there was a close call for Barker, too.

She remonstrated angrily with Kopecky after the Belgian came close to tipping her over as she cut in sharply round a bend.

Manly was knocked from her bike as she changed over with Australian team-mate Cure

What is the madison?

The madison is a mixture of sprinting prowess and endurance - with teams typically picking a specialist in each.

Points are available for the top four places in intermediate sprints - held every 10 laps - with double points on offer at the end of the race.

Teams can also earn points by gaining a lap on the main field.

Women race over 30km (120 laps), while the men's race is 50km (200 laps).

• The madison explained and other mysteries

Owens misses out on bronze

In the men's sprint, 21-year-old Ryan Owens' impressive run at his first Worlds ended with defeat by New Zealand's Ethan Mitchell in the bronze-medal match.

The gold was taken by Denis Dmitriev of Russia, who beat the Netherlands' Harrie Lavreysen.

"It was a tough evening, I'm not going to lie. I've not been beaten like that before, but you have to look at it with some perspective," Owens told BBC Sport.

Owens (right) was selected as a reserve for Britain's Olympic squad for the Rio Games last summer

"Even a year ago if I thought I would be getting fourth in the World Championships I would have taken that and more.

"Two years ago I think I was still at school, so it wasn't even on the horizon. Yeah, I'm happy."

'I woke up in agony...'

Earlier, in the women's individual pursuit, Archibald - who won Britain's first gold of the championships - missed out on one of four spots for the final by 0.258 seconds.

"I don't feel fantastic, I woke up in agony. Maybe I would have slept better if I hadn't had so many messages," she told BBC Sport.

"I thought I could still give it a good go but I'm pretty disappointed and a bit embarrassed if I'm honest, I put in a lot of work.

"On paper it looks like I've not moved on in two years, so I don't feel so good about that. But it's amazing to have won the omnium world title."

Chloe Dygert of the United States went on to win gold by beating Ashlee Ankudinoff of Australia into silver, with American Kelly Catlin taking bronze.

Britain's Katy Marchant, 24, was 13th in qualifying for the women's 500m time trial, missing the cut for the final.

That was won by Russia's Daria Shmeleva, with her compatriot Anastasia Voynova - the 2015 and 2016 world champion - third behind Germany's Miriam Welte.

In the men's omnium, 23-year-old Latham, who won bronze in Thursday's scratch race, finished 18th out of 21.

Benjamin Thomas won gold - France's first in Hong Kong - with New Zealand's Aaron Gate taking silver and Albert Torres Barcelo of Spain the bronze.

Analysis

Double Olympic gold medallist Joanna Rowsell Shand

I was over the moon for Elinor Barker and Emily Nelson - it was a brilliant ride.

Katie Archibald is clearly disappointed but she shouldn't be. The omnium win was fabulous, and she would have had to go really deep again. It was an understandable performance. There are a lot factors you can't control after winning a world title, and that affects your recovery.

For Chris Latham, to already have a World Championship to his name at this stage, that is really impressive, so he shouldn't be too disappointed.