LONDON — The British men's pursuit team won its second straight Olympic gold medal Friday, shattering the world record it had set the previous day.
The team of Edward Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Steven Burke and Peter Kennaugh tore over the pine wood of the London Velodrome to finish in 3 minutes, 51.659 seconds, lowering the mark of 3:52.499 they set during the qualifying round by nearly a second.
The Australian team of Jack Bobridge, Glenn O'Shea, Rohan Dennis and Michael Hepburn finished in 3:54.581 to win the silver medal, and New Zealand beat Russia for the bronze.
Britain is the first team to defend the Olympic team pursuit title since West Germany in 1976.
The home team was carried along by a raucous crowd that included Kobe Bryant and some guy named "Wiggo" — that would be Bradley Wiggins, the Tour de France champion who won the Olympic time trial gold medal on Wednesday at Hampton Court Palace.
Wiggins was roaring his approval with the rest of the 6,000 fans jammed into the velodrome, and for good reason: He was part of the British pursuit team that won gold in Beijing.
His former mates seem to be doing just fine without him.
The team pursuit, in which teams of four race over 4 kilometers in an aerodynamic formation, started on Thursday, when the British team established a world record. The time was nearly three seconds faster than Australia and more than five seconds better than New Zealand.
"All we've done here is state our intent," British coach Dan Hunt said afterward. "I think we can go quicker."
His premonition proved to be accurate.
The British team posted a time of 3:52.743 in its heat race — for most of the final lap it appeared that it would set another world record. That earned it the opportunity to race for gold against Australia, which advanced to the final with a time of 3:54.317 in its heat.
In the final, the British team led by three-tenths of a second after the first 1,000 meters, and more than half a second by the midway point, the blur of its blue uniforms moving effortlessly from the front to the back to keep fresh legs pulling the foursome along.
The team crossed the finish line together to a thunderous ovation.
Thomas and Clancy have been around for a while, joining with a variety of teammates over the years to win three world championships. But the newcomers Kennaugh and Burke showed they had every bit the mettle of Wiggins and the retired Paul Manning to win Olympic gold.
Kennaugh in particular was cheered on by road cyclist Mark Cavendish, perched above the track doing TV commentary. The two riders are both from the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea between Britain and Ireland, and has a population of only about 85,000.
After a slow start to the London Games, the British cycling team has done just about everything it could to help the host nation climb the medal table.
Chris Hoy, Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny delivered the team sprint gold medal on Thursday, and Elizabeth Armitstead won silver in the road race last weekend.