SHIZUOKA: China clinched the first track cycling gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s team sprint on Monday and set a new world record as Germany took silver on a dramatic first day at the Izu Velodrome. Australia’s Alexander Porter also suffered a nasty crash during qualifying for the men’s team pursuit after his handlebars snapped off, while Germany smashed a world record in the women’s event to advance as favourites for gold on Tuesday. It meant some consolation for the German team, who were edged out in the women’s team sprint final by Chinese pair Bao Shanju and Zhong Tianshi. Bao and Zhong had earlier broken China’s own world record with a time of 31.804sec in the heats and they were too quick in the final, their 31.895 just ahead of Germany’s 31.980. The Russian Olympic Committee beat the Netherlands to take bronze. China retain their Olympic crown after winning gold in Rio and bronze in London. Germany’s Emma Hinze and Lea Sophie Friedrich pushed them close but fell short of the gold medal they won at the world championships last year.