Ellesse Andrews of and Netherlands' Harrie Lavreysen will remember Paris 2024 as a competition where they reigned supreme. Both riders were the stars of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome. They each triumphed in the sprint and keirin events, winning two individual gold medals. They demonstrated their ability to excel in two different disciplines. 

The New Zealander was a force to be reckoned with on the Paris velodrome, dominating and significantly contributing to her team’s competitiveness in the team events. One of the most exciting aspects of the competition was the rivalry between Dutch rider Hetty van Wout and American Emma Finucane. Van Wout won silver in the keirin, while Finucane earned bronze in both the keirin and the sprint. Lea Friedrich from Germany took the remaining silver medal in the women's sprint.

Andrews is the new Olympic champion in the keirin. She rode a perfect final. She took the lead from the start, maintained the pace and reached speeds of over 67 kilometres per hour.

Andrews continued her family's cycling tradition, her father being an Olympic track cyclist. Her mother was a mountain biker, but Ellesse opted for the velodrome and was successful. She was a four-time junior world champion. Britain's Katy Marchant finished fourth. Germany's Emma Hinze was fifth. Italy's Daniela Gaxiola completed the top six.

In the men's race, Lavreysen proved to be Evenepoel's closest rival on the road, with the Belgian taking a one-two in the time trial and road race. The Dutchman won the sprint ahead of Australia's Mathew Richardson and Jack Carlin, who took bronze. Lavreysen also topped the podium in the keirin. Richardson took silver and Mathew Glaetzer (Australia) bronze.

As the track events took over from road cycling in the final week of the Games, the velodrome was packed with spectators. The racing was highly spectacular, with a few crashes in the team events causing concern among the crowd.

In both the men's and women's team events, the medals were widely distributed. The women's team sprint was won by Great Britain, New Zealand and Germany. In the men's category, the Netherlands were the best, with a powerhouse team that reasserted their Olympic dominance. Great Britain came second, with Ethan Hayter suffering a mishap in the final that limited the British team's chances, while Australia took bronze.

In the pursuit, a crowd favourite, Australia, Great Britain and Italy took the medals. In the women's event, the USA pulled off an upset by beating strong teams from New Zealand and Great Britain.

The omnium events were truly exciting, with the versatile Benjamin Thomas, who knows what it's like to win stages in the Giro d'Italia on the road, excelling as a track specialist. The Frenchman took gold for the host nation. Iuri Leitao (Portugal) took silver and Fabio Van der Bossche of Belgium, bronze.

Benjamin Thomas gave France another gold medal in cycling, adding to the two on the road and three on the BMX podium. He rode a perfect race, always in the right position. He scored 164 points compared to Leitao's 153 and Bossche's 131. His ability to stay at the front without losing points, combined with his power in the final metres, made him the favourite for a medal.

American Jennifer Valente surprised everyone in the women's omnium. As one of the youngest members of the delegation, she won another gold medal for her country.

One of the last events was the Madison, where there were several highlights. Italy took gold in the men's event, with Great Britain taking silver and the Netherlands bronze. In the women's event, Portugal pulled off the upset by winning gold, the first gold medal for the Portuguese delegation on the track. 

Italy had to settle for silver, with an emotional Elia Viviani, one of the most versatile cyclists who knows what it's like to triumph in the best road races, to become European road champion and to win major victories on the track. Viviani could only manage silver in the year of his retirement, his last Olympic Games. Denmark finished third.

Portugal scored 55 points (35 from sprints and 20 from laps) to win the Olympic title and take glory over the traditional track powers. The tears of Viviani were of no use. Italy took silver with 47 points (27 from sprints and lap gained) and Denmark bronze with 41 points (21 from sprints and lap gained).

On the fifteenth day of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, Portuguese gold medallists Iuri Leitao and Rui Oliveira celebrated an unexpected success for the Portuguese team.

For Italy, Elia Viviani was partnered by Simone Consonni. The Danish pairing consisted of Niklas Larsen and Michael Morkov, who used an eventful race to make it onto the Olympic podium. They had to settle for bronze, beating other nations such as Germany, who had started as one of the favourites.