Track cycling opens with British win

BEIJING, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Britain captured the first Olympic gold medal awarded in track cycling Friday, winning the men's sprint title by a half second.

Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Jamie Staff turned in a combined time of 43.128 seconds with all three members of the team winning their lap.

Three-time defending world champion France finished second in 43.651. Germany, which won this event four years ago in Athens, took the bronze in its race with Australia.

The American team of Michael Blatchford, Adam Duvendeck and Giddeon Massie made up the eighth and final team to make it through qualifying but they fell in the first round to Britain.

Cyclists from Britain also led qualifying for the men's and women's individual pursuit. Bradley Wiggins will go into the knockout phase of the men's event as the top seed and Wendy Houvenaghel will be the No. 1 seed in the women's competition.