Jack Carlin brought home the bronze medal in the men's individual sprint in cycling at the Paris Olympics on Friday to cheers from British fans waving the Union Jack and from Dutch supporters dressed in orange cheering for his rival in the final, Jeffrey Hoogland. The booing was mixed.

Carlin had received a warning when he defeated Japan's Kaiya Ota in the third quarterfinal match, and the memory of the incident was vivid in the mind of Dutch coach Mehdi Kordi as he faced Hoogland for the bronze medal.

Carlin won the first match sprint and Hoogland won the second.

Before they could get up to speed, Carlin slipped and hit Hoogland, nearly causing them both to fall.

The judges sounded the gun twice, and Cordi said he thought that meant Carlin had been demoted and that the bronze medal belonged to Hoogland. However, the jury decided to give Carlin another warning and let the decisive battle resume.

Carlin won the final race, but Cordi said Carlin came out of the sprinters' lane.

"Jack wasn't perfect. He came out of sprinters lane. I think everything that happened yesterday, his warnings, crashes, collisions, affected the race."

Cordi said that on the morning of the final race, the officials had made it clear that they would be more strict.

"I was told very clearly by the judges this morning that every incident that happened, every fight, basically rugby on wheels, including Carlin's, would be penalized if Sprinter's Lane came out when they were engaged. So it was clear he was coming out of the sprinters lane.

"It was two pedal strokes. I saw it with my own eyes. 'It was two pedal strokes. In that corner [turn 3] there were two pedal strokes and I forced Jeffrey up,

"I was like, "Great, OK, easy appeal." But they said it didn't affect the race, so I was puzzled

"I'm saying Hoogland changed the course by taking the corner at a sharp angle. But they didn't think it would affect the race, which again confused me.

Cordi said he was not mad at Carlin for the way he raced and that he deserved the bronze medalist, but added that he did not think the judges would be so forgiving if it were another sprinter.

"I accepted the decision. In the world of sports, there is a saying, "push the envelope." In sports, there is a saying that in moments of pressure, one swallows the whistle. I hope not, but I am still confused by the fact that yesterday and today there was actually nothing to his actions, be it a warning, a head butt, or coming out on the line"

. [The boos and protests did not bother Carlin as much as the entire sprint competition, where he had to overcome a broken ankle suffered in April while defeating riders like Nicholas Paul (Trinidad and Tobago) and Ota.

"I'm not lying when I say that these two days were the most mentally demanding of my career," Carlin said. He said, "Usually, in the first couple of races, if you qualify high enough, you just go for it. I had to fight in every race. It's not for nothing."

But the cheers of the Dutch fans were just another day in the life of the match sprinter.

"Tokyo was the same. You are a sportsman and you put yourself in the light of being questioned about it. That's the way it is."

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