Dame Laura Kenny secures scratch race gold for England at Commonwealth Games
Kenny had downplayed her form over the weekend, claiming to be the weakest link in England’s bronze-winning team pursuit squad.
Dame Laura Kenny delivered Commonwealth gold for England on the final day of track cycling in the Lee Valley VeloPark.
A late burst of speed saw Kenny overhaul Great Britain team-mate Neah Evans and then hold off New Zealand’s Michaela Drummond and Canada’s Maggie Coles-Lyster at the end of a crash-interrupted women’s scratch race.
Kenny had downplayed her form over the weekend, claiming to be the weakest link in England’s bronze-winning team pursuit squad before finishing a lowly 13th in Sunday’s points race, but found the pace needed to claim her first Commonwealth gold since Glasgow in 2014.
The 40-lap race was neutralised midway through after India’s Meenakshi Meenakshi collided with Ariane Bonhomme, sending the Canadian down before she was hit by a helpless Bryony Botha of New Zealand. Racing was stopped as Bonhomme was carried out on a stretcher.
After the action resumed, Kenny’s England team-mates Sophie Lewis and Grace Lister both tried attacks inside the final 10 laps.
But it was when Scotland’s Evans broke clear that Lewis provided a lead-out for Kenny and she finished it off over the final laps – roared home by the London crowd with decibel levels reminiscent of the London Olympics a decade ago.
