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Katie Archibald helps Great Britain to first world women’s team pursuit gold since 2014; victory hugely poignant for Archibald following death of partner and fellow cyclist Rab Wardell after cardiac arrest last year; para-cyclists Sam Ruddock, Blaine Hunt and Jaco van Gass also win gold
Last Updated: 05/08/23 10:57pm
Josie Knight (left) embraces Katie Archibald (right) after Great Britain’s first women’s team pursuit world title in nine years
Katie Archibald and Great Britain celebrated an emotional victory in the women’s team pursuit at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow.
Archibald, Elinor Barker, Josie Knight and Anna Morris won gold with a time of four minutes 8.771 seconds, more than four seconds ahead of New Zealand, as they scooped Britain’s first world title in this event since 2014.
Archibald’s fifth world title was hugely poignant with the 29-year-old’s late partner and fellow cyclist Rab Wardell dying of a cardiac arrest as he lay in bed last August.
The rider was given a tremendous reception from the crowd and told BBC Sport: “It is all coming out now with this event.
“Someone was talking about imposter syndrome the other day and you almost have it the other way round.
“We almost see ourselves as the best in the world but we have not been on the top step since 2014. So to have that feeling validated feels good.”
Archibald, Anna Morris, Elinor Baker, Megan Barker and Knight (left to right) pose with their gold medals
‘Archibald phenomenal – I don’t know how she does it’
Knight, who shares a house with Archibald, said of her team-mate: “I see her ups and downs every day. She’s had a really tough couple of weeks. I know her prep hasn’t been quite what she would have wanted.
“Usually she’s the real hero of this team. We’ve had to adapt and I’ve tried to step up, take that role on. But she is phenomenal. We all stepped up. And we’re world champions.”
Barker added: “Katie’s unbelievable. It’s really hard to summarise the year that she has had, how she feels about it, how we feel about it.
“Just the fact that she is here, it’s insane. I don’t really know how she does it, to be honest.”
Archibald and Barker were both part of the team when Britain last won the women’s team pursuit world title nine years ago, going on to enjoy Olympic glory in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 before taking silver in Tokyo at the following Games.
There were also more gold medals for Britain’s para-cyclists.
Sam Ruddock successfully defended his men’s C1 kilo title before Blaine Hunt took the C5 crown, with Jaco van Gass then beating team-mate Fin Graham to win the men’s C3 scratch race and his second rainbow jersey in as many days.
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