Japan reached the podium in the men’s team sprint at the World Track Cycling Championships for the first time, beating Great Britain in the bronze medal race in Ballerup, Denmark.
The Japanese team of Yoshitaku Nagasako, Kaiya Ota and Yuta Obara edged out Paris Olympic silver medalist Great Britain after finishing third in qualifying and beating Colombia in the heats to move into the medal races with the third-fastest time a.
Japanese track cyclists with good results
“I’m happy with the medal, even if I’m not happy because I think we could have won a better medal,” said Obara, a member of the Japanese sprint team that finished fifth at the Paris Games.
In the men’s team pursuit, Japan beat Canada in the first round, but lost to the German team in the race for third place on Thursday.
The World Championships in the Ballerup Super Arena ended on Sunday, October 20th.
Kento Yamasaki brings Japan their long-awaited Keirin World Championship gold
Track cyclist Kento Yamasaki won the men’s keirin at the world championships, becoming the first Japanese to win the discipline since Harumi Honda in 1987.
The 31-year-old Yamasaki crossed the finish line ahead of second-placed Israeli Mikhail Yakovlev and third-placed Colombian Kevin Santiago Quintero Chavarro on the second day of the World Championships in Ballerup.
“I still can’t believe I won,” said Yamasaki. “I’m really happy that I was able to achieve this result for all the people who supported me.”
The gold medal in the women’s keirin also went to Japan: Mina Sato, who had to settle for bronze in the sprint, secured the gold medal in the keirin.
Fellow Japanese Kazushige Kuboki won the men’s non-Olympic scratch.
