China wins first cycling Olympic gold, owes glory to French coach

The Chinese pair compete during the women's team sprint in the Rio Olympic Velodrome, Aug 12, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Four years ago in London, Gong and Guo Shuang picked up a silver medal in the women's cycling team sprint after being relegated from gold for making a lane change in the final.

China won two silvers and one bronze in cycling in 2012 London Olympics and one bronze in Beijing 2008.

The women's team sprint is a track cycling event contested by teams of two women cyclists. The format consists of two rounds: in the first round, teams compete against the clock to set a qualifying time. The top four teams go through to the final round, where the first and second placed teams compete against each other in the gold medal race-off and the third and fourth teams compete against each other in the bronze medal race-off.

This event was added to the Olympic program in the 2012 London Olympic Games.