The 2024 World Championship Track began on October 16th in Ballerup, Denmark.
On the second day of the tournament, the women’s sprint qualifying rounds up to the quarterfinals were held.
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women’s sprint
From Japan, Mizuna Sato and Fuko Umekawa entered. There were also 31 participants, including Sophie Capewell (Great Britain), who won the team sprint the previous day, and Emma Finucan (Great Britain), bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Games.
Qualifying was a 200m time trial with a run-up, with the top 28 competitors advancing to the top. After that, it will be a best-of-one match until the third round, and a best-of-two match from the quarterfinals onwards.
[Sprint]Track competition rules explanation/video
Preliminary 200m FTT Sato narrowly falls short of seeding
A qualifying round in which the top four are seeded to the second round. Sato placed 5th with a time of 10.552 seconds, and Umekawa placed 10th with a time of 10.790 seconds. Sato fell just short of securing the seeding rights.
Qualifying results PDF
1st round Umekawa unexpectedly
Sato won the match against Anis Amira Rosidi (Malaysia), who ranked 28th in the preliminary round, and advanced to the second round, while Umekawa faced Alecia McCaig (Australia), who ranked 23rd in the preliminary round.
Umekawa was applying pressure from behind as he stepped forward towards the final lap, while McCaig maintained the same pace and kept the distance between them.
On the final lap, both racers were running at full throttle, but the distance was not closing easily as they headed into the final straight. Umekawa gradually caught up, and in the end they both finished almost at the same time.
However, McCaig managed to escape by a narrow margin and was the first to arrive. Umekawa did not advance to the second round.
1st round results PDF
2nd round
Sato’s opponent is Clara Schneider (Germany), who placed 12th in the qualifying round. In this match, Sato took advantage of his speed difference to keep his opponents at bay and was the first to arrive. They advanced to the quarterfinals.
2nd round results PDF
Quarterfinals Battle with 2022 World Champion
From here on, it’s the quarterfinals where the best two wins will advance. Sato’s opponent is Mathilde Gros (France), who placed 4th in the preliminary round and is the 2022 world champion in this event. Sato said before the race that he had never won against Glo. It was a match against a strong team.
In the first run, the race progressed with Sato attacking from behind. The first lap progressed slowly, with the riders glaring at each other, but it wasn’t until the remaining lap and a half that the race really started to move. As Guro begins to pick up speed, Sato chases after him with a gap of about two bicycle lengths. As he entered the final lap, he used the slope of the track behind him to gain momentum and close the gap.
When the final sprint started, Sato was about to line up with Groo with less than half a lap to go, and they entered the home straight at the same time, but it was Sato who made it from the outside. He ended up getting his first run from a former world champion.
In the second run, the race progressed with Sato in front. Sato continued the race while keeping his distance well, and when he accelerated at full speed on the final lap, he was able to take the lead and was unable to get close to Gro. He defeated his strong opponent in straight sets and decided to advance to the semi-finals.
The women’s quarterfinal to final races are scheduled to be held on the 18th, the third day of the tournament. Sato’s opponent is Emma Finucan, who ranked first in the qualifiers. The next opponent for the 2022 world champion will be the 2023 world champion, and there is no doubt that it will be a tough battle.
Quarterfinal results PDF
Player interview
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