You can't imagine it! Kopecky loses chance at World Championship gold after equipment failure in final meters

Lotte Kopecky won silver in the Points Race at the World Track Cycling Championships in Denmark. The Belgian was competing with Danish national favorite Julie Norman Leth for the gold when she suddenly stopped pedaling in the final sprint. She had an equipment failure, and consequently, her chance for gold vanished.

The points race was Kopecky's second event during the World Track Cycling Championships. Earlier, she fought an exciting duel with New Zealand's Wollaston in the Elimination Race. She lost but did manage to keep the silver medal, especially after her hectic autumn in several disciplines. In the points race, Kopecky again faced her nemesis from the Elimination Race, Wollaston, who had already claimed two golds and a bronze.

Kopecky started well and picked up points in the first sprint, which secured her a high ranking in the provisional standings. Wollaston started a bit more cautiously but immediately jumped up the rankings by taking the full sweep of five points at an intermediate sprint. At that point, Kopecky and Wollaston were equal in points, which seemed a prelude to an exciting final stage.

However, it was certainly not a duel between Kopecky and Wollaston. Many more contenders were lurking around, such as American Jennifer Valente, Australian Alexandra Manly, and Japanese Ikeda. That trio grabbed a lap first and consequently grabbed a significant margin on the rest of the field. However, Kopecky and Wollaston knocked back with just under forty laps to go. Both took a lap; Wollaston jumped to the lead, and Kopecky was out of the medals.

Kopecky suffers bad luck at very inconvenient time

However, Kopecky began advancing and gathered many points in the intermediate sprint. As a result, she passed Wollaston. Danish Leth, however, still had a few points ahead of her. The final sprint had to decide the race. Kopecky started the sprint but suddenly stopped pedaling; her chain had come off. Thus, the gold was for Leth, and Kopecky had to settle for silver for the second time this World Championship.