Great Britain secure an encouraging four medals at the World Cup event in Hong Kong, while Dom Parsons notched up his third seventh-place finish of the season in the Skeleton. Here’s our review of the last 24 hours.
Philip Hindes says the signs are looking good for Rio after Great Britain’s men claimed World Cup gold in the men’s team sprint in Hong Kong.
After Matt Crampton’s efforts in qualifying he made way for Callum Skinner with Jason Kenny rounding off the trio that rode to gold.
That team clocked 43.751 to beat Poland, and for Hindes the victory is proof that the Brits are on the right track as they look for Olympic gold this summer.
“It seems like every World Cup we're doing we're getting better so it's a good sign for Rio,” Hindes told British Cycling.
Kenny added: “Really happy with that. Getting a couple of second rides in and having the confidence to change team and still perform with a different line-up.”
The women had taken silver before the men’s triumph, with Emily Nelson coming in for Laura Trott to join Joanna Rowsell Shand, Elinor Barker and Ciara Horne in the final showdown with Canada –where they were beaten by a quarter of a second.
Earlier in the day Jess Varnish and Katy Marchant secured silver in the team sprint, while Germain Burton, Kian Emadi, Ollie Wood and Chris Latham rounded off proceedings with bronze in the men’s pursuit. Read more here.
Dom Parsons led the way for Great Britain in Saturday’s World Cup skeleton action in Park City, as he finished seventh for the third time this season with the World Championships in Igls only a month away.
A fine second run from the 28-year-old moved him up the leaderboard from ninth after Heat 1 in heavy snow and strong winds in Utah.
In a race won once again by Martins Dukurs, Parsons recorded a time of 1:39.57 to finish half a second outside the medals, as the Latvian maintained his 100 per cent record this season.
Britain’s No1 male slider now sits sixth in the world rankings with three World Cup races to go.
Meanwhile, Laura Deas was unable to notch up her third podium finish of the season in the women’s race as she came 10th a week after winning bronze in Lake Placid.
Deas couldn’t stop World Cup leader Tina Hermann from winning a third race of the season, despite producing the second fastest start time in Run 1 and the third fastest in Run 2, while teammate Donna Creighton finished 14th.
Deas said on Twitter: “Frustrated to not be able to capitalise more on a great 2nd run but that's the way it goes sometimes! Looking forward to Whistler.”
Olympic champion Andy Murray admits he will go to any lengths to be at wife Kim’s bedside should she go into Labour during the Australian Open.
The 28-year-old, who has reached the final in Melbourne four times, insists he will make the 10,500-mile journey home even if it means having to give up on a chance of winning his third Grand Slam title.
Heavily pregnant Kim has not made the journey to Australia, and Murray revealed that his contingency plans include hiring a private jet if he gets the life changing call over the next two weeks.
“My child is more important to me, and my wife is more important to me, than a tennis match,” he said.
“It's a big change for me and my wife, but that's the current priority and I'll see after that.
“I have no idea how that will change things. I still love tennis: I have trained and prepared as best as possible for here and I feel like I'm in a good position to do well, but my current priority is my family.
“As soon as the call comes in, I'll find a way to get home in time, I'm sure - Private jet is an option.
“When I'm practising and when I'm playing matches, I'm fine. I can concentrate very well on my tennis.
“I think everyone who's been in the position of becoming a parent, in the few weeks beforehand you think about it quite a lot - it's a pretty big thing that's about to happen.”
Sportsbeat 2016