Send us Victoria-us: Pendleton storms to Gold

Bedfordshire cyclist Victoria Pendleton made up for yesterday's Olympic heartache with a stunning win in the Keirin final.

It was Pendleton's second gold after her Olympic sprint title in 2008 and continued an eventful swansong for the multiple world champion.

Yesterday the Stotfold athlete suffered disappointment as along with Jess Varnish, she was eliminated from the two-woman, two-lap team sprint for a takeover infringement on day one of the track programme, leaving the duo in tears.

But Pendleton, who last won the keirin world title in 2007, responded in an event brought into the Games for the first time.

In the event which begins behind a motorised Derny bike, the 31-year-old from Stotfold, who is set to retire after London 2012, stormed to victory. Guo Shuang of China was second, with Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong third.

Pendleton accelerated from one-and-a-half laps to go and took to the front before sensationally pulling away to claim her second Olympic gold.

The win sparked jubilant scenes from coach Jan van Eijden, British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford and head coach Shane Sutton and was Britain's third gold medal of the track programme.

World champion Anna Meares had made an early move as soon as the pace-setting bike went off the track, but Pendleton stormed by, leaving the Australian to finish in a distant fifth.

Pendleton celebrated with her fiance Scott Gardner, a coach with British Cycling.Pendleton's focus was now set to turn to the individual sprint, which begins on Sunday and finishes on Tuesday's final day of the track programme.