Track cyclist Ellesse Andrews has added one last gold medal to New Zealand's record haul at Paris, winning the women's sprint on the last night of competition at the Olympic velodrome.
Entering the best-of-three final series against new world recordholder Lea Friedrich of Germany, the flying Kiwi had not lost in head-to-head competition, since finishing third fastest in qualifying.
Friedrich had dropped her first contest in the semifinals, before rallying to defeat Dutchwoman Hetty van de Wouw to advance.
The flying Kiwi added a second gold to her keirin triumph. (Source: SKY)
Andrews showed her rival now mercy in the medal contest, dominating the first two races to put the German out of her misery quickly.
Not only had she maintained her unbeaten record, she had accounted for the world recordholder, British world champion Emma Finucane and defending Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell of Canada en route to her triumph.
There could be no disputing her claims to the crown she adds to keirin gold and team sprint silver at these Games.
"Unbelievable," she told Sky Sport. "It's been an amazing week.
"This competition is over three days, so to end the third day with a win is unbelievable.
"I'm really proud of the way I raced physically, but also mentally. Tactically, I carried myself through the week."
Ellesse Andrews wins her sprint semifinal at the Paris Olympics. (Source: Associated Press)
By contrast to Tokyo 2020, where she won keirin silver in an almost empty stadium during the Covid-19 pandemic, Andrews has relished having her support team around her at Paris, where dad Jon has coached her trackside.
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"So special to have [family] in the crowd and know they're there, and they love me and don't care what I do on the track, but they're here no matter what," she said.
Andrews' triumph takes the Kiwi medal haul to 19 — one shy of the record at Tokyo, but another improvement on the previous best gold strike. Their 10 eclipses the eight won at Los Angeles 1984, boosting them to 11th on the medal table.
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