BBC Wales at the Olympics

Great Britain's Emma Finucane continued her bid for a third Olympic medal at these Paris Games by booking her place in tomorrow's women's sprint semi-finals.

The 21-year-old Carmarthen rider won her best-of-three duel against Colombia's Martha Bayona Pineda.

Win that semi-final on Sunday - again a best-of-three format scheduled for 10:22 BST - and she will be guaranteed another medal to add to her keirin bronze and Team GB sprint gold.

New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews, who beat Finucane to keirin gold earlier this week, stands in her way. If Finucane beats the Kiwi she will be into the final and guaranteed gold or silver, lose and she will race for bronze.

But Finucane's GB teammate Sophie Capewell will not be joining her after losing her quarter-final against Dutch cyclist Hetty van de Wouw.

Earlier in the day, Finucane had seen off Australia's Kristina Clonan to reach this evening's quarters.

Tom Brown
BBC Sport Wales

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After that silver for Elinor Barker and bronze for Jeremiah Azu last night, Llanishen High School in Cardiff can boast three Olympic medals by its former pupils in Paris.

Anna Morris, along with Barker, won bronze in the women’s team pursuit earlier in the week.

Incidentally, one silver and two bronzes would put Llanishen High 72nd in the medal table - just ahead of Kosovo, Cyprus and Fiji.

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Dani Rowe, Olympic gold medallist from London 2012, says she is 'immensely proud' of Elinor Barker who last night became Wales' most decorated female Olympian.

Barker has four medals over three Games - one gold, two silver and a bronze.

"It’s exceptional, I was so pleased that they got that silver medal yesterday in the madison," Rowe told BBC Radio Wales.

"She is a huge role model, especially coming back from motherhood, that’s a huge point to mention because it’s not easy.

"You have to be selfish as an athlete and how she’s managed to juggle that and be at the top of her game in sport is outstanding.

"She will be a huge role model and inspiration to so many young girls and also older women in sport who now realise that it’s a possibility, they can start a family, have a baby and come back in sport at the highest level."

Rowe has also been impressed by Emma Finucane on her Olympic debut.

"She has ridden with such maturity, not just physically but mentally as well," Rowe said.

"Of course she would have been nervous, but the way she has handled herself in the sprint and the keirin has been really impressive.

"She’s coming in as reigning world champion in the sprint with almost no pressure on her shoulders, she’s 21, she’s got two Olympic medals to her name already, so she can just ride with that confidence and I think she’ll have the momentum and that will give her a very good chance of gaining another medal."

Olympic medallist Jeremiah Azu says he can't wait to return to Cardiff to celebrate.

The 23-year-old won bronze in the men's 4x100m relay along with Zharnel Hughes, Louie Hinchliffe and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake.

Azu has been training in Italy for a year but says he is looking forward to returning to 'the best city in the world'.

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It's the penultimate day of the Paris Olympics and there's just one Welsh athlete in action today.

Emma Finucane, 21, is back in the velodrome for the women's individual sprint.

She is one of the favourites to medal in the event as the reigning world champion and showed her class by breezing through the early rounds on Friday.

Finucane is scheduled on track at 16:00 BST, hoping to progress to the quarter-finals at 18:07 BST.

She already has a gold medal from the team sprint and a bronze from the keirin.

Can the Carmarthen rider make it a hat-trick?

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The total number of medals won by Welsh athletes at the Paris Olympics is now 12, although there have been 13 medallists with some team events included in the tally.

So Welsh athletes have won three golds, three silvers and six bronze in France.

It is the most medals Welsh athletes have ever won at a Games but with four golds claimed in Rio in 2016, that is still arguably Wales’ ‘best' Olympics.

Sprint cyclist Emma Finucane is still in with a chance of gold in the women’s sprint on the final weekend.

GOLD

Matt Richards & Kieran Bird (swimming - men’s 4x200m freestyle relay)

Emma Finucane (cycling - women’s team sprint)

Harry Brightmore (rowing - men’s eight, cox)

SILVER

Matt Richards (swimming - men’s 200m freestyle)

Ollie Wynne-Griffith (rowing - men’s pair)

Elinor Barker (cycling - women’s madison)

BRONZE

Eve Stewart (rowing - women’s eight)

Matt Aldridge (rowing - men’s four)

Becky Wilde (rowing - women’s double sculls)

Elinor Barker, Jess Roberts, Anna Morris (cycling - women’s team pursuit)

Emma Finucane (cycling - women’s keirin)

Jeremiah Azu (athletics - men’s 4x100m relay).

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Welsh sprinter Jeremiah Azu has won an Olympic bronze medal as part of Team GB men's 4x100m relay.

Azu ran the opening leg with the baton handed over to Louie Hinchliffe, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Zharnel Hughes.

This medal came six days after Azu was disqualified from the individual 100m event because of a false start.

Canada won the gold ahead of South Africa, with USA having a nightmare on the first changeover.

Earlier, the GB women's 4x100m relay team won silver behind USA.

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Emma Finucane continues to ease her way through the rounds of the women's sprint.

The 21-year-old beat Steffie van der Peet of the Netherlands to reach the next stage which will go at 16:00 BST on Saturday.

As the reigning sprint world champion, Finucane is hotly tipped to win a medal in the event.

The Carmarthen cyclist has already won gold in the team sprint and bronze in the keirin.

How does the sprint cycling competition work?

The competition begins with a 200m flying start (a time trial beginning with two-and-a-half build-up laps).

The quickest 24 riders qualify for the first knockout round, with their times used to establish the seeding for it.

Thereafter, the riders go head-to-head over three laps, with the fastest progressing to the next round.

It’s a knockout format, but there can be a second chance for the losing riders in a repechage.

From the quarter-finals onwards, races are best-of-three with no repechage. The medals will be decided on Sunday morning.

Elinor Barker has just made history – she is the first Welsh woman to have won four Olympic medals.

A last-gasp sprint ensured she and Scotland’s Neah Evans won silver in the madison behind Italian duo Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini, who finished six points ahead of Great Britain on 37.

Netherland finished third on 28 points.

The silver adds to the bronze Barker won in the team pursuit this week, the silver in Toyko 2021 and the gold in Rio 2016.

Speaking after the race, Barker told BBC One: “We really really wanted gold, we came in as world champions which meant we put the pressure on ourselves, we had a bit of a target on our back potentially.

“We said it wouldn’t change the way we would race, but it was hard not to really feel like we had to take responsibility for things at times, and perhaps that’s what we’ll pick up on in our analysis.

“But also, it’s an Olympic medal, there are plenty of world champions this week that haven’t medalled and every single medal is a huge achievement.

“With Neah [Evans] riding with me it means every single member across our squad has got a medal, which is awesome. We’re going to be a pretty happy group of people.”

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Former Olympic keirin champion Victoria Pendleton has outlined the importance of team GB's sprint cyclists conserving their energy.

Emma Finucane returns to the track at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome this afternoon after winning bronze in the women's keirin final.

The 21-year-old from Carmarthen is back in action for the women's individual sprint, with qualifying starting at 13:00 BST followed by the races in the last 32 and last 16. There are two further rounds on Saturday before semi-finals and final on Sunday.

"When you’re in the sprint events you have to learn how to switch off as quickly as possible, it's really important to conserve your energy," Pendleton told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"As you become more experienced in the sport you see that the guys who do well throughout the competition are the ones who manage to switch off when they can.

"The girls will know this, they’ll have a routine and understand what they need to do, wether that’s reading a book or having some time for yourself, it's all a huge part of preparing for the next event."

Welsh swimmer Hector Pardoe says he is looking forward to celebrating the end of the season with his gold-medal winning French girlfriend.

Cassandre Beaugrand won gold for the host nation in the triathlon last week, while Pardoe finished a creditable sixth for Team GB in the men's 10km marathon.

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Welsh swimmer Hector Pardoe delivered a stellar effort to claim a top-10 finish in the Men's 10km marathon swimming.

Pardoe had to pull out of this race at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago when he was elbowed in the face in the last lap which split his goggles and he was losing sight in one of his eyes.

In the River Seine he found himself in the middle of the pack and 14 seconds off the lead after the first lap.

However he improved as the gruelling near two-hour race went on, even raising hopes of a possible medal in the closing stages.

After a photo finish he was awarded sixth place by 0.1 second ahead of Frenchman Marc-Antoine Olivier.

Pardoe's time of 1 hour 50 minutes 50.8 seconds was 58 seconds behind gold winner Kristol Rasovskyz of Hungary.

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It's an early start for Welsh Olympic watchers on day 14 of the Paris Games.

Hector Pardoe will be diving into the River Seine at 06:30 BST for the men's 10km marathon swim.

Pardoe and the other open water swimmers finally got a familiarisation session for the event in the Seine on Wednesday after preparations were cancelled five times because of pollution in the river.

Welsh interest then switches to the outskirts of Paris in the afternoon with Emma Finucane returning to the track at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome.

On Thursday the 21-year-old from Carmarthen added keirin bronze to the gold she won in the women's team sprint.

World sprint champion Finucane will again be a favourite for the women's individual sprint which starts with qualifying at 13:00 BST.

She should be back for further rounds at 13:48 BST (1/32 finals) and 18:10 (1/16 finals) for the three-day event which concludes on Sunday.

Elinor Barker will also return to the velodrome looking for her second medal of the Paris Games.

The 29-year-old won bronze in the team pursuit on Wednesday - adding to the gold she won in Rio in 2016 and silver in Tokyo five years later.

Barker - only the second Welsh woman after sailor Hannah Mills to claim a hat-trick of Olympic podium positions - competes in the Madison with Neah Evans at 17:09 BST.

Finally for Friday, Cardiff sprinter Jeremiah Azu will be aiming to make up for the heartbreak of his individual 100m disqualification.

On Thursday Azu, 23, ran a strong first leg to help Great Britain qualify for the final of the 4x100m relay which is scheduled for 18:47 BST at the Stade de France.

Great Britain sprinter Emma Finucane says her keirin bronze medal feels like a gold after a nervous race in the Paris velodrome.

It was the 21-year-old's second medal on her Olympic debut, having won team pursuit gold on Monday.

She will go for a third medal in the individual sprint, with qualifying beginning on Friday.

Watch the women's keirin final at the Paris 2024 Olympics as Team GB's Emma Finucane secured bronze, with fellow teammate Katy Marchant finishing in fourth and narrowly missing out on a medal.

"My whole family they have come from Carmarthen," said Finucane, who won team gold on Monday.

"To look up at the crowds and see their faces supporting me, no matter whether I win or lose. It's about giving back to my family, race my bike with a smile on my face.

"I couldn't have given anymore and to get that bronze medal was unreal. I can't believe it.

"The sprint kicks off tomorrow [Friday] and I will see what I can do. It is my last event in the Olympics and I have nothing to lose."

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Britain's Emma Finucane has claimed a bronze medal in the women's keirin final.

It is the Welsh sprinter's second medal on her Olympic debut, having won team pursuit gold on Monday.

Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand won gold ahead of Hetty van de Wouw of the Netherlands.

Finucane's GB teammate Katy Marchant finished outside of the medals in fourth.

"Scraping through the semi I knew I had to find something in my legs that I'd never seen before," said Finucane.

"Ellesse is world champion and demonstrated today that she's so strong.

"To even be there, next to one of my best friends, Katy, was such a 'pinch me' moment and to get a bronze medal feels like gold to me because I left everything out on that track.

"If you told me a year ago I'd be coming to the Olympics and getting a gold in the team sprint and a bronze in the keirin, I would have been like 'no way', but here I am."

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Sir Chris Hoy says Emma Finucane needs to go back to basics in tonight's final of the women's keirin.

The 21-year-old GB sprinter qualified after scraping third place in the first semi-final.

Hoy said Finucane "had been untouchable in the first ride" but the semi was "a little bit more complicated."

"The key thing she has to do in the final is keep it simple, play to your strengths," Hoy said.

"She has got so much pace that when she makes the move no one can match her, but she has to use it at the right time.

"My opinion would be to launch one at about two and a half laps to go, get to the front, back off a little bit just to keep everyone behind you and then with a lap and a half to go, smash it."

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Emma Finucane has qualified for tonight's final of the women's keirin.

The Welsh sprinter launched a late charge to finish third in the first semi-final, just pipping Netherlands' Steffie Van der Peet to the line.

Finucane is going for her second gold at the Paris Games having won team sprint on Monday.

She will be joined in the final by her team mate Katy Marchant who finished second in the second semi-final.

The final is scheduled for 18:11 BST, although the velodrome timetable has been disrupted by an earlier crash.

Double Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones has spoke of her devastation after exiting the Paris Games in the first round of women's -57kg taekwondo.

Jones was beaten by North Macedonia's Miljana Reljikj in a third round tie-breaker .

The 31-year-old from Flint had set her sights on becoming the first three-time Olympic champion in the sport's history.

"I’m absolutely devastated," she told BBC Sport Wales after the bout.

"I clawed my way back to have this chance to be at my fourth Olympics, but it always comes down to the day and I didn’t have the balls and courage that it took today.

"I’m really proud of myself for having the courage to try and do something that no one has done and it’s tough, it’s mentally tough, that’s why no one has done it before.

"The more you win, the harder it gets, the more expectation and pressure. When you’re a kid you’ve got nothing to lose and you just fight.

"I’m gutted for me, my coach, my family that I didn’t show what I’ve worked so hard for, didn’t show what I was capable of in my body and mind, but it’s sport and it’s life, I couldn’t do it."

Jones' Olympic build-up had been overshadowed by the controversy of a missed drugs tests, but she was later cleared by the UK Anti-Doping Agency.

"The preparation was tough, but I was really grateful they looked into it the way they did," she added.

"The drug test came on dehydration day, I was losing the weight and kind of not in the right frame of mind.

"I got confused with it all, so I’m just so lucky that they looked into it and saw nothing was wrong and it all got sorted. It was stressful."

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Welsh track sprint cyclist Emma Finucane remains on course in her bid to win three Olympic gold medals in Paris after qualifying for the semi-finals of the women's keirin on Thursday afternoon.

After winning gold in the team sprint on Monday evening, Finucane had breezed through to the keirin quarter-finals.

Finucane finished second in her last-eight race, with the semi-final due around 17:15 BST and the final scheduled for 18:11 BST, although the velodrome timetable has been delayed by an earlier crash.

In the keirin, riders follow a pacing motorbike or electric bike called a derny, which gradually increases in speed from 30kmh to 50kmh.

Before the start of the race, riders draw lots to decide on their position behind the derny. After 750m, the derny peels off the track and a three-lap sprint begins.

Finucane has one more event with the individual sprint finals being decided on Sunday morning after qualifying races on Friday and Saturday.

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Jade Jones' dream of creating history by winning a third Olympic Games taekwondo gold medal were dashed after losing her opening bout in the women's -57kg division against Miljana Reljikj in Paris.

Jones' hopes of reaching the bronze medal bout also ended as she needed the North Macedonian Reljikj to progress to the final to secure a spot, and then be able to fight for a potential bronze medal contest.

But Jones' Olympic Games is over after Reljikj was beaten by Laetitia Aoun of Lebanon in the quarter-finals.

In Jones' bout against Reljikj the first two rounds were shared before the final round finished level 1-1.

Reljikj was named the winner by registering more hits in that third round.

Jones won gold at London 2012 and repeated that feat in Rio four years later, but was knocked out in the first round at Tokyo in 2021.

She was aiming to shrug off any lingering controversy over a missed drugs test in the build-up to Paris.

Jones' appearance at the 2024 Games had been thrown into doubt earlier this year when she was suspended pending further investigations.

She ultimately escaped sanction after being found to having committed a no-fault doping violation on confidential medical grounds.

The 31-year-old has kept a low profile since the saga, spending much of her time training in Croatia before her fourth Olympic appearance.