Track cycling: GB women pursuit trio qualify with ease

Britain's women's team pursuit trio broke their own world record to qualify for Saturday's first round.

Dani King, Joanna Rowsell and Laura Trott covered the 3,000m around the London Velodrome's track in three minutes 15.669 seconds.

This was half a second faster than the time they set in April, when they won the World Championships in Melbourne.

The highly-fancied Australian trio could only qualify third fastest, more than four seconds slower than Team GB.

The US recorded the second fastest time, with four-time individual pursuit champion Sarah Hammer leading the way.

Canada set the fourth best time but New Zealand disappointed and can only now reach the bronze-medal race at best.

Roared on by a highly partisan crowd, the British team were half a second up after the first lap and never looked in any difficulty at all.

The 23-year-old Rowsell rode that all-important first lap at the front, but the pace never dipped when King and then Trott took up the charge.

The versatile Trott, 20, is also considered a great prospect in the omnium, another new event for the women at the Olympics.