LAST UPDATE | 11 Aug
IRELAND’S LARA GILLESPIE has finished in 10th place after the points race in the women’s omnium at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on the last day of the Paris Olympics.
Gillespie, who was fifth in the standings heading into this fourth and final event, was 20 points behind the rider in the bronze medal position, Maggie Coles-Lyster. The Wicklow native fought ferociously for a place on the podium, coming to within just three points of a medal at one point. But she was unable to build on that as she crossed the line to take a top-10 finish overall.
Gillespie made an early charge at the start of the race to head towards the top of the field after seven laps. She slipped back to sixth after the first sprint of eight after being overtaken by Norway’s Anita Stenberg.
Poland’s Daria Pikulik then gained the points to take fifth, pushing the Irish rider back to seventh in the second sprint.
Gillespie attacked again in sprint three to shoot to the top of the field, with Anita Stenberg following closely behind. That gave her three points to bring her up to sixth with 48 laps remaining.
She earned another 20 points as she lapped the field with Stenberg to move her up to fourth, just three points off third-placed Stenberg. With 35 laps to go, Gillespie went back down to fifth but was still only three points off a medal with 99 points built up.
Gillespie then drifted back to sixth and then seventh as Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen climbed up to fourth with 18 laps left.
Coming into the final sprint, Gillespie was in 10th and all but out of contention for a medal.
