German Friedrich sets new world record in track cycling women's sprint qualification

Paris, Aug 09: Lea Friedrich of Germany set a new world record for track cycling women's sprint in qualification at the Paris Olympics on Friday.

Friedrich covered the 200-metre qualifying distance in 10.029 seconds, beating the previous best of 10.117 seconds set by Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand just five minutes earlier.

World champion Emma Finucane of Britain also rode faster than Andrews, covering the distance in 10.067 seconds to establish the second-fastest qualifying time. China's Yuan Liying was unable to start qualification after her heavy fall in Thursday's Keirin quarterfinal race, but her teammate Bao Shanju qualified for the first round of head-to-head races in 10.744 seconds.

Meanwhile, world champion Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands will compete against compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland, Matthew Richardson of Australia and Jack Carlin of Britain for the medal in the men's sprint after some tense quarterfinals at the Olympic Velodrome on Thursday evening