Campbell Stewart has become the second Kiwi track cyclist to win silver at the Tokyo Olympics after a brilliant performance in the points race saw him jump onto the podium.
Stewart was seventh going into the final omnium event, and was still in fifth going into the final three laps of the 100-lap points race, but jumped into the medal positions with a late overlap.
Knowing only a strong performance in the points race would see him move into the medal spots, Stewart came out hard, earning six points on the opening three sprints before earning a further 20 by lapping the group.
He fell away through the middle but a late push saw him close in on the top three.
He earnt five points on the ninth sprint and continued to lead with five laps to go. He needed a pass to jump into the medal spots and he charged ahead, pushing himself to the brink to catch the pack and earning the most valuable 20 points of his career to date.
The 23-year-old finished with 129 points overall, five points ahead of Italian bronze medallist Elia Viviani. Great Britain's Matthew Walls took gold with 153 points.
Earlier in the evening, Stewart finished seventh in the scratch race, earning 28 points.
He came out well in the tempo race, winning the first sprint and nearly taking the second.
He remained there or there abouts throughout the rest of the race, before sneaking past France's Benjamin Thomas on the final lap to take a second point and finish in 12th.
It put him in 10th place at the halfway stage on 46 points, 30 behind Dutch leader Jan Willem van Schip.
That meant a strong performance was needed in the elimination race and the young Kiwi looked to put himself at the front of the pack.
He remained in the middle of the field at the halfway mark, ensuring a top-10 finish.
But he would need to be among the leaders in order to earn enough points to put himself in medal contention going into the final event.
He did so, finishing in fifth. That result pushed him up to seventh overall with one event remaining.
In the final points race, his timing was as exquisite as his endurance, pulling away from the field to earn a second silver medal for New Zealand on the track in less than an hour.
SHARE ME