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Chinese Guo Shuang lives up to her expection to win the first cycling medal for the host after getting the bronze medal in the women's sprint on Tuesday. [Xinhua]
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Chinese Guo Shuang lived up to her expectation to win the first cycling medal for the host at the Beijing Olympic Games on Tuesday after getting the bronze medal in the women's sprint.
Guo beat Willy Kanis of the Netherlands 2-0 to stand on the podium, while the three-times world champion Victoria Pentelon of Britain took the gold after beating Australia's Anna Meares 2-0.
"It hasn't sunk in yet. After the success of the team it is too much to ask if I don't get a medal. I'm so glad I'm part of it now," said Pentelon, who became the first British women to win track cycling Olympic gold.
The Athens brozne medallist Meares took the silver, the only cycling medal Aussies won at the Beijing Games.
"It's been a tough run for sure. But it's been an amazing journey. To be seven months out from the Olympics and have a crash that fractures two vertebrae and you could be a quadriplegic, so many things go out the door. You think your Olympic dream is out the door," Meares said.
The Australian women nearly died in January this year when she crashed in the keirin final at the Los Angeles World Cup round. She suffered a fracture of her C2 vertabra and if it had been another couple of millimetres longer, it could have killed her or left Meares at best with permanent paralysis.
Falling off her bike in the deciding race in the semifinals, Guo bravely stood up to compete. She almost saw the chance to enter the final after beating the Australian, but the Chinese illegally maneuvered Meares out of the way and was thus relegated into the bronze medal contest.
"I was too hesitatant to take the initiative during the race, and lost many opportunities," Guo said. "I always tried to be in front of her, but made a mistake in Heat 3, and let her grab the chance."
Guo started cycling at age 13. She was sent to the World Cycling Training Center in 2002 to learn from French coach Sebastien Dulcus.
The 21-year-old is being coached by Daniel Morelon, a French legend with four Olympic golds, who guided her to the silver in the sprint and keirin in the 2007 world track cycling championships.
"He used to be an excellent athlete, and now is a good coach. I learnt a lot from him and benefited a lot both in tactics and racing skills," added Guo.
China's best showing in cycling at the Olympics was at the Athens Games in 2004 when Jiang Yonghua won a silver medal in the 500m time trial, an event that was axed from Beijing in favor of BMX.