The Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines stadium outside Paris is considered a fast course, but a perfect storm of low pressure, high temperatures, humidity, and the intensity of the 2024 Olympic Games sent the world record plummeting on Monday.

The record was expected to be challenged as the women were only in their third year of the three-rider 750m team sprint and it was the first Olympics in the new format. By the end of the night, however, the British trio had set an astounding new world record of 45.186 and won the gold medal.

The world record held by China at this year's event was broken no less than five times in the three rounds of racing, showcasing unprecedented speed, strategy, and power.

Emma Finucane, a member of Great Britain's gold medal-winning team, described the accomplishment as "100% a huge statement from the women sprinters. We have been waiting for this for a long time."

In the qualifying round, Great Britain's Katie Marchant, Finucane, and Sophie Capewell were the first to break the Chinese world record set in June with a time of 45.472, 0.01 seconds off the previous record.

However, the British record was soon broken by a huge margin of 0.095 seconds by the reigning Olympic champions, Germany. Pauline Grabosch, Emma Hintze, and Leah Friedrich clocked 45.377.

Shockingly, their result only qualified them for the bronze medal round. This was because in the next heat, New Zealand's Erez Andrews, Shane Fulton, and Rebecca Petch recorded a 45.348, 0.029 seconds faster than the next heat.

The British team recorded a 45.338 in the next heat, 0.01 seconds off the Kiwi mark to the delight of the packed crowd.

"I think everyone comes here at the Olympics at the best of their ability. Andrews, who won the silver medal in the final, said, "We were expecting a world record to be broken and we are very excited and proud that our run was a world record."

Over the course of two rounds of racing, the record was shaved a whopping 0.144 seconds off the previous record.

Great Britain advanced to the gold medal round where they faced New Zealand and became the new Olympic champions and new record holders with a time of 45.186.

Grabosch, representing the defending champions, said the five world records were "insane."

"We can say 'girl power'. That's the best definition of it tonight. All the athletes who broke world records were very, very fast. Even the men didn't come that close to the world record in the first round. So we have really raised the bar in women's cycling and we can all be very, very proud of our performance."

"We are very, very proud of our performance.

When asked about the women's race finally reaching the same distance as the men's, Capewell smiled. She said, "I think the sport has come a long way and women and men are no longer seen as different entities.

"As Pauline said, 'girl power.' I think this is just the beginning. Women's sprinting has come a long way, especially with the change of the event to a three-person event.

"I think this trend will continue for the next few years. The sport has changed a little bit for us because we are now training a little bit longer distances, but I think the fact that we are equal is very special. And I think we're going to see a lot of women going from strength to strength."

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