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Houvenaghel, Romero and Kalitovska pose with their medals. (Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
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Rebecca Romero of Great Britain became the first British female athlete to win medals in two different Summer Olympic Games sports with a gold medal ride in the Women's Individual Pursuit on Sunday.
A silver medalist in the Quadruple Sculls in Rowing in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Romero bested compatriot Wendy Houvenaghel to win the 3km in 3min 28.321sec.
Houvenaghel scored a career-first Olympic medal with silver in 3:30.395.
In the bronze medal race, Lesya Kalitovska of Ukraine easily rolled onto the podium with a comfortable victory against Alison Shanks of New Zealand.
Kalitovska stopped the clock in 3:31:413 against Shanks' 3:34.156 to win Ukraine's first medal in Cycling Track competition during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Romero's gold medal caps a remarkable transformation from Olympic rower to Individual Pursuit champion after switching to Cycling Track in 2005 after a back injury kept her from her best in rowing.
By 2007, she was already a force in the 3km Pursuit, earning a silver medal at the Mallorca 2007 world championships.
After beating archrival Sarah Hammer of the United States to claim her first world title in the Manchester 2008 world championships in June, the 28-year-old Romero rode with confidence throughout three days of competition.
Houvenaghel, 33, is another late-comer to Cycling Track. She didn't start cycling until she was 27.
She has never won a medal at world championship level, with her best Individual Pursuit result being fourth at the 2007 and 2008 worlds. She also helped motor Great Britain to victory in the Women's Team Pursuit in the Manchester worlds in June.
Romero and Houvenaghel - who share the same coach and are roommates in the Olympic Village during competition - continued Great Britain's impressive medal haul.
Through three days of competition, Great Britain has won seven of 12 individual medals in Cycling Track.
Beijing proved to be a disappointment for pre-race favorite Hammer, a two-time world champion who struggled to find her rhythm in qualifying and didn't reach the medal rounds.
Hammer, Kalitovska and Romero are also to start the Women's Points Race on Monday, August 18.
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Romero and Houvenaghel celebrate. (Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
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