By Martyn Herman
SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (Reuters) -Dominant Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen retained his Olympic track cycling sprint title as he fought off Australia’s Matthew Richardson in the final at the National Velodrome on Friday.
Lavreysen was pushed hard in the best-of-three final but the result appeared inevitable as he underlined why he is regarded as almost unbeatable in the power events.
The 27-year-old won both legs to add the sprint gold to the team sprint he won earlier in the week.
As he slowed down the hundreds of Dutch fans in the velodrome chanted “Harrie, Harrie” before he stopped on the banked track and lifted his bike above his head to salute them.
Lavreysen, who has 13 world titles across the sprint disciplines, will now go for a hat-trick of golds at this Games when he competes in the keirin event.
For Richardson it was his first individual Olympic medal and adds to the bronze he took in the team sprint this week.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond and Hugh Lawson)
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