Strong performances in Tokyo from New Zealand track cyclists Sam Webster and Ellesse Andrews have seen the pair advance to the quarterfinal stage of the men's sprint and women's keirin respectively.
Webster, a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist in the individual sprint, overcame 2019 world championship bronze medallist Mateusz Rudyk in the round-of-32, riding a brilliant tactical race from the front to win by 0.18 seconds and advance straight to the round-of-16.
There, he defeated Frenchman Sebastian Vigier through sheer grit and determination.
The French rider appeared to have control of the sprint with just over two laps to go, keeping Webster high on the track. But the Kiwi persevered, pushing himself past Vigier to take the lead at the start of the final lap.
From there he was in the driver’s seat and he hung on by 0.038 seconds to move through to the last eight.
Meanwhile, Andrews has advanced to the women's keirin quarterfinals, having raced brilliantly to win her repechage race.
The 21-year-old was in fourth going into the final three laps but made her move around the outside to take the lead going into the final lap.
Despite pressure from Liubov Basova, of Ukraine, and Hyejin Lee, of South Korea, Andrews won the race to advance to the quarterfinals.
If she finishes in the top four of six riders in her quarterfinal race, she will advance to the semifinals.
Fellow Kiwi sprinter Ethan Mitchell had the tough task of trying to take down Dutch rider and new world record holder Jeffrey Hoogland in the round-of-32, and wasn’t able to do so, finishing 0.233 seconds behind.
He later finished third in his repechage and was eliminated.
Webster and Andrews will compete in their quarterfinals on Thursday night.
Elsewhere, the men's pursuit team suffered a crash in a critical part of their bronze medal race against Australia, leaving them having to settle for fourth.
A mistake from experienced rider Aaron Gate saw the London bronze medallist crash to the ground with 1500m to go and with New Zealand in the lead.
It caused the remaining three riders to lose each other on the track, and the Australians took advantage, overlapping the trailing Kiwi rider to take the bronze.
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