Reed works her way toward medal rounds

By Jeremy Whittle

Far from the hullabaloo and pre-Olympic hype surrounding Great Britain’s track team, Jennie Reed of the United States was quietly making her resolute way into the medal positions in the women’s sprint finals.

Reed, 29, has maintained the good form that took her to runner’s up spot in the sprints in the Los Angeles World Cup earlier this year, where she also won the keirin.

“I’m real happy with that,” said Reed after qualifying for Saturday’s semi-final against defending world sprint champion Victoria Pendleton. “In the past few years, I had thought it wasn’t possible to break into the top four but I have been working with Andy Sparks and now I’m pretty optimistic.”

“My 200 wasn’t my best ride and I knew I could go faster than that, and I did,” Reed explained. “Pendleton has the three jerseys from last year so she knows she can do it. But I think it’s really close and that shows that it’s up for grabs.”

Reed has been working hard to improve her endurance.

“I don’t know how the other girls train but the longer the championships go on, the better it is for me,” she said. “Plus the track is awesome; really fast and I like that.”

Pendleton, fastest qualifier in the heats, has looked assured so far, but admitted that much of that calm was down to her fast qualification ensuring an easier route towards the semi-final.

“That’s the advantage of qualifying fastest; you ride against the lowest seeds in the competition,” she said.

“I’ve definitely kept a lot of my reserves,” Pendleton said. “I don’t feel like I’ve really hit 100 percent yet. That’s a good thing and I haven’t felt any negative after effects from the team sprint. Now I’m looking forward to getting on with it tomorrow.”

“The whole team has produced such amazing performances already. It does put added pressure on the team, but it also puts added pressure on the rest of the world going into the Olympics. We’re the ones they want to beat.” Reed would surely second that emotion.

FILED UNDER: Track