SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France- - Harrie Lavreysen cemented his status as the king of men's track cycling with the Dutchman completing a golden hat-trick as the curtain came down on seven days of fast and furious racing at the Olympic velodrome on Sunday. The 27-year-old had already emulated his sprint and team sprint titles from Tokyo but this time the man nicknamed The Beast went one better as he pedalled to victory in the keirin as well. With an army of orange-clad Dutch fans roaring him on, he poured on the power as the bell rang for the final lap and held off Australia's Matthew Richardson. "It's incredible, this was my biggest dream to go for gold three times," Lavreysen, who cloaked himself in a Dutch flag before kissing the wooden boards, said of his feat. "I felt really strong the full week. This morning, I thought, 'It is possible' - but I needed to ride the perfect final, and I was really close (to perfect) until the end." Lavreysen was not the only rider to add to their gold collection on a frenetic final day of action. Ellesse Andrews continued re-writing New Zealand cycling history as she became the nation's first Olympic track sprint gold medallist, adding to her gold in the keirin. American Jennifer Valente retained her Olympic omnium title, having also been part of the U.S. team pursuit triumph. Lavreysen's heroics meant the Netherlands finished top of the track cycling medals table in terms of golds won with three, followed by New Zealand and the United States with two apiece. Britain, for so long the dominant force on the boards, won the most medals, eight, but only one gold -- the lowest number since they also managed one in Sydney in 2000. Lavreysen missed out on a hat-trick in Tokyo when he could only finish third in the keirin. When he qualified behind Richardson in the first semi-final on Sunday, some of his fans might have feared history would repeat itself. BUSINESS AS USUAL Come the final, however, it was business as usual for the former BMX rider as he emulated British sprint greats Chris Hoy (2008) and Jason Kenny (2016) by winning all three sprint golds on offer at a single Games. He is also the first male Dutch athlete to win five Olympic golds with only speed skater Ireen Wust (6) ahead of him. Lavreysen's hat-trick moment was overshadowed by crash involving Malaysia's Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom, Japan's Shinji Nakano and Britain's Jack Carlin, who were all sent tumbling across the track, although all walked away. Australian Matthew Glaetzer grabbed the bronze. If Lavreysen has dominated the men's events, New Zealand's Andrews reigned supreme in the women's. She comfortably beat Britain's world champion Emma Finucane in the semi-final and then outclassed German favourite Lea Freidrich in the final -- winning both matches 2-0. "It's been a massive week, and I'm just so proud of how I've managed to carry myself to the end of the competition," Andrew, whose keirin gold on Thursday was the first Olympics track title in 20 years for New Zealand, said. Finucane beat Dutch rider Hetty van de Wouw for bronze -- the 21-year-old becoming the first British woman to win three medals at one Games since Mary Bignal-Rand in 1964. "I left my heart out on the track," Finucane, who powered Britain to its only gold in the team sprint, said. Valente was dominant across the multi-discipline omnium, winning the scratch and elimination races and having a comfortable cushion ahead of the points race. "I don't think an omnium race is ever under control, a lot of things can happen," the 29-year-old said. "I just took each race as a stand-alone and came out swinging for each one." Poland's Daria Pikulik ended with the silver medal and New Zealand's Ally Wollaston was third.
Jean-Paul Danneberg of Germany looks on as Thierry Brinkman of Netherlands scores their first goal at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium, Colombes, France.
PARIS- - The Netherlands beat Germany 3-1 in a shootout after a 1-1 draw to win the gold medal in men's hockey at the Paris Olympics on Thursday with Duco Telgenkamp firing home the final penalty shot past goalkeeper Jean-Paul Danneberg. The win gave the Dutch men their third gold medal and 10th medal overall in hockey since 1928. They last won gold at the Sydney Games in 2000, having lost in the 2004 and 2012 finals. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in the stands to watch his country as cries of "Holland!" and "Deutschland!" competed with each other throughout a tightly contested defensive match-up. Dutch skipper Thierry Brinkman scored the first goal in the 46th minute by redirecting a ball lofted over Danneberg, with Germany responding on a penalty corner score by midfielder Thies Prinz in the 50th minute, sending the game to penalties.
Roy van den Berg of Netherlands, Harrie Lavreysen of Netherlands and Jeffrey Hoogland of Netherlands in action during the Men's Track Cycling Team Sprint Final at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, France.
SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France- - The flying Dutch broke the world record twice in the space of an hour to retain their Olympic title in the men's team sprint in dominant fashion at the National Velodrome on Tuesday. Massive favourites ahead of the Games, the Netherlands trio of Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland put on a sprinting masterclass to power to gold. Britain were trying to stop the so-called "Bullet Train" in the final but did not stand a chance as they came in almost one second behind in a race often won by the width of a wheel. Australia beat France to take the bronze -- their first medal in the men's team sprint since 2000. "It's crazy," Lavreysen, who is seeking to surpass his two gold medals from the Tokyo Games, told reporters. "Of course we were going for the gold medal tonight but breaking world records and going so quick was really special." The Dutch team sent out a statement in the first round when they clocked 41.191 seconds to lower their own world record. That was just the warm-up though in a sweltering velodrome as they turned the final into a procession against a British trio coached by track sprint great Jason Kenny. Lavreysen, nicknamed "The Beast" because of his phenomenal power, led out the second lap of the 250 metre track and the experienced Hoogland did the rest. The 27-year-old Lavreysen, a 13-time world champion, will next try to defend his sprint title and then will go in the keirin, the only discipline he did not win in Tokyo. Asked whether he feels unbeatable, Lavreysen smiled. "Well, it feels nice going in to this week. "Let's go for it (three golds). I feel good, I broke my PB on my lap and really looking forward to the sprint." For Britain's Jack Carlin, who was joined by Ed Lowe and Hamish Turnbull, it was yet another near miss and he must be sick of the sight of the orange-clad Dutch sprinters. He now has 14 Olympic, world or European medals -- but none of them gold. "Look at the world record. The Dutch are a great team, they are three great individuals. We executed what we knew we could do. We went to that final and enjoyed it," he said. It was another fast and furious day in the velodrome with more world records falling after day one when the British women's team sprint squad lowered the mark en route to gold. Australia's men broke the team pursuit world record as they topped the time charts in the first round. The quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O'Brien clocked 3:40.730 and will ride against Britain for gold in Wednesday's final. "It was pretty special to go to 40, I think we knew we were going to be quick but we didn't realise we were going that quick," Welsford, whose quartet destroyed reigning champions Italy, told reporters. Italy and Denmark will contest the bronze. New Zealand's were quickest in the women's team pursuit qualifying rounds as they almost broke the world record. The quarter of Ally Wollaston, Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman, Nicole Shields completed 16 laps of the 250 metre track in 4:04.679 with the United States second in 4:05.238.
GUYANCOURT, France- - France's Celine Boutier delighted the home crowd by taking a first-round lead at the Olympic women's golf competition on Wednesday, with her slick putting setting her apart from some of her rivals who toiled on a tricky course south of Paris.
PARIS - The Netherlands won gold in the men's 3x3 basketball by edging France 18-17 in overtime in the final at the Paris Olympics on Monday, just a few minutes after Germany had earned their first international title in the women's tournament.
France were backed by a passionate crowd, but Worthy de Jong, instantly recognisable with his bleached blond hair, tied the score in the last seconds of regulation and sealed the title for the Dutch with a two-point, long-range shot in overtime.
"To end like this is amazing. These shots are how legends are made," de Jong said.
"We came here with a goal and we made it. This is our canvass and like Picasso, we painted a masterpiece."
On the women's side, Germany beat Spain 17-16 after Sonja Greinacher hit a two-pointer that gave them a decisive lead with 30 seconds remaining at Place de la Concorde.
Greinacher had already scintillated in a back-and-forth semi-final contest against the Canada, delivering 11 points and five rebounds for a 16-15 win.
"We definitely wanted that gold medal," Greinacher said after getting a congratulatory hug courtside from compatriot and 14-times NBA All-Star Dirk Nowitzki.
"I think we just wanted to enjoy our last game together as a group. That was the biggest goal of it all, to just enjoy."
The men's bronze went to Lithuania after they dispatched Tokyo gold medallists Latvia 21-18, who picked a bad day to suffer their only two losses of the tournament.
The United States, who won the women's gold in Tokyo, prevailed over Canada 16-13 to claim bronze this time around, a consolation prize after losing 18-16 to Spain in overtime in the semi-finals.
"After we lost this morning and had our gold dream crushed, we were down," said American Hailey van Lith.
"We were kind of feeling sorry for ourselves. It took a lot of mental toughness just to compete in this game," she added.
In their bronze medal game, the United States had to rely on close one-point shots and five free throws to beat Canada's Plouffe twins, Katherine and Michelle, the number one and number three-ranked players in the world.
The Americans had a difficult start to the tournament, losing their three opening pool games to Germany, Azerbaijan and Australia before finally finding their groove.
The Paris 3x3 tournament was even more complicated for the U.S. men's team, who were making their Olympic debut with a revamped and unconventional squad after failing to qualify for Tokyo.
The Americans had to play four of their seven games without top-ranked player Jimmer Fredette, who was injured, and failed to break out of their pool.
France's women, runners-up at the 2023 World Cup, were just as disappointing, finishing last in the pool phase behind Azerbaijan.
