Great Britain team pursuit Rio Olympic Games

Great Britain broke the women's team pursuit world record on the first day of track cycling competition at the Olympic Games.

The Team GB quartet of Katie Archibald, Laura Trott, Elinor Barker and Joanna Rowsell-Shand made a huge statement to their rivals by clocking a record four minutes 13.260 seconds in qualifying on Thursday.

World champions the United States were 1.026secs off the pace in the Olympic Velodrome, with Australia third-fastest.

The women's team pursuit first round heats and medal races will be staged on Saturday.

It was a promising start to the track cycling for Great Britain, with the men's team sprint team starting proceedings by shattering the Olympic record in qualifying.