China in final as British team sprint duo DQ'd

LONDON (AFP) –

Great Britain’s Victoria Pendleton is comforted by a member of her team after she and Jess Varnish were relegated from the Women’s team sprint qualifying event of London 2012 Olympic games, at the ExCel centre in London.

Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish’s dreams of winning gold in the inaugural women’s team sprint at the Olympics were shattered after the pair were relegated from the competition Thursday.

Pendleton and Varnish had qualified for the gold medal match with China but were later relegated by judges for “an illegal change.”

China will meet Germany in the final while Australia will meet Ukraine in the battle for bronze.

An International Cycling Union (UCI) official later told AFP the pair were disqualified after Varnish “peeled off too early” in the changeover zone on the track prior to Pendleton starting her lap.

The setback ends Pendleton’s bid for three gold medals at the Games, in which she is also competing in the sprint and keirin.

“It’s just one of those things that happened. We were probably just a bit too eager and excited for a ride,” said a distraught Pendleton, who had earlier set a world record in the event.

China’s Gong Jinjie and China’s Guo Shuang compete during the Women’s team sprint qualifying heat as part of the track cycling event of London 2012 Olympic games at the ExCel centre in London. Chinese duo Gong and Guo set a new world record for the second time Thursday as they continued their search for women’s Olympic team sprint gold at the London velodrome.

“Now and again rubbish things happen and this is one of those. The only positives I can take is I know I’m in good form”

After Britain’s new world mark of 32.526sec, Chinese duo Gong Jinjie and Guo Shuang went on to set two new worlds records on their way to the final.

Having set a record of 32.447sec in topping qualifying, the Chinese pair then led the first round times in a new world mark of 32.442.

The previous record of 32.549sec was set by Germany’s Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte in Melbourne last April.