Paris 2024 track cycling: All results, as France's Benjamin Thomas pedals to gold medal in men’s omnium
France's Benjamin Thomas sent the home crowd into a frenzy, winning the men’s track cycling omnium on Thursday, 8 August at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
His total of 164 points saw him take the top spot at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, which erupted into a spontaneous rendition of “La Marseillaise” after his victory was confirmed.
“I couldn’t even sing, I was overtaken with emotion,” Thomas said after the victory ceremony. “I saw my father. I saw my family. My father put me on the bike when I was three or four years old, and my brother gave me the pleasure of riding bicycles.
"This is why I do this sport. I do cycling to have fun, to live emotions and to give emotions to people.”
His memorable day got off to an ideal start, when he won the men’s scratch race to immediately plant himself atop the omnium rankings.
Thomas faltered slightly in the tempo race, finishing 11th, but rebounded in the elimination race to finish second behind Great Britain’s Ethan Hayter. This result was enough to place him among the medal contenders heading into the all-important points race.
His main rivals were current world champion Iuri Leitao of Portugal, points-race specialist Fabio van den Bossche of Belgium, former world champion Hayter and Germany’s Tim Torn Teutenberg, who was near the top of the standings after a pair of exceptional performances in the tempo race and points race.
Thomas, Leitao and van den Bossche went to battle, launching attacks off the front of the peloton and responding to moves made by other riders. Thomas made his presence known on the sprint laps, scoring six out of 10 times to gain 26 points.
He and Leitao successfully lapped the peloton twice, giving them an advantage over van den Bossche, who only lapped the field once.
Thomas went down in a single-rider crash with less than 25 laps remaining, but even that couldn’t stop the Frenchman from riding to victory at Paris 2024. He crossed the finish line first during the final sprint to cement his name in cycling history.
“I’m really proud of what I did today,” said Thomas. “I took so much pleasure on the track, [it] was really a game. Today, I played a lot, I suffered.
"It’s so nice, and I will remember this day, I think, forever.”
Leitao will certainly remember this day, after becoming the first cyclist from Portugal to win a medal in track cycling at the Olympic Games. He was awarded the silver medal, registering 153 points in the omnium.
“It's unbelievable man. It's the most important competition in the world,” said Leitao. “First of all, being the one selected to represent your country is super special, and to be able to deliver a result like this is unbelievable.”
The 23-year-old van den Bossche was also overjoyed with his achievement, stepping onto the Olympic podium early in his cycling career.
"It's been really emotional to me as well,” said van den Bossche. “This is one of the highest things to reach in my career and to do it at this age already, that's something."
Track cycling: Men's omnium podium
Gold: Benjamin Thomas, FRA
Silver: Iuri Leitao, POR
Bronze: Fabio van den Bossche, BEL
Find full results on Olympics.com.