Germany repeats as gold medalist in women’s team pursuit

RICHMOND, British Columbia — Germany has repeated as the gold medalist of women’s team pursuit, edging Japan by two-hundredths of a second in the final after escaping the semifinals with Anni Friesinger-Postma’s belly slide across the line.

Katrin Mattscherodt swapped out for Friesinger-Postma in Saturday’s final, teaming with Stephanie Beckert and Daniela Anschutz Thoms to overcome a deficit of nearly two seconds midway through the race.

The Japanese team of Masako Hozumi, Nao Kodaira and Maki Tabata couldn’t hold off the Germans, who defended the inaugural women’s pursuit title they won four years ago at Turin.

Poland claimed the bronze, overcoming the United States when Catherine Raney-Norman couldn’t keep up with teammates Jennifer Rodriguez and Jilleanne Rookard. They crossed ahead of the Poles, but the time only counts when all three skaters finish. Raney-Norman labored across 1.57 behind the bronze medalists.