Australia para track cyclist Jessica Gallagher revealed she was honoured after claiming gold with pilot Caitlin Ward in the women's tandem B sprint finals as the Cycling got under way at Lee Valley VeloPark.

The 36-year-old, who was making her Commonwealth Games debut, got the better of silver medallist Aileen McGlynn and pilot Ellie Stone of Team Scotland over the last lap.

She said: "To come here, finding an incredible pilot in Caitlin, we have worked so well together. It's been a real honour for me so to get this reward is really special.

"They (Scotland) had nothing to lose, they just went up. We knew they were going to be aggressive but Caitlin is just a phenomenal pilot, a phenomenal rider, and she was just as aggressive back and worked her way.

"Coming from the back position in tandem is really hard so she just kept working the pilot of the other tandem and eventually we make the move and it's pretty amazing coming over that line."

Australia also celebrated gold in the women’s team pursuit with a winning time of four minutes, 12.234 seconds to come home 5.750secs quicker than New Zealand, with England taking bronze.

After breaking the Commonwealth Games earlier on Friday, pursuit champion Georgia Baker said: "It’s a really fresh team here. We haven’t raced together much and we broke the Comm Games record in qualifying, then went out and smashed it again in the final. That was pretty cool.

I’m sure there’s more records to be broken. The world record is on for sure
Georgia Baker

"It’s definitely the start of a new era and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season. I’m sure there’s more records to be broken. The world record is on for sure."

New Zealand went one better with victory in the men's team pursuit to come home ahead of England and Australia, with Aaron Gate admitting his side's performance was faultless.

He said: "I'm pretty ecstatic. It was a stellar ride by the boys there and you couldn’t really fault our performance in the final. It was nice to put it all together and be standing on the top step there.

"I put in a lot of hard work leading into this competition, but I freshened up well and I’m feeling good so I was pretty confident I would be able to go out there and put down a good performance for the team."

Scotland’s Neil Fachie, piloted by Lewis Stewart, won his fifth Commonwealth gold with victory in the para-cycling 1000m time trial, setting a new Games record of 59.938 seconds.

Wales' James Ball and England's Stephen Bate completed an all-British podium, while Fachie remained humble despite his new record, saying: "I'm not counting medals, I just want to win every race.

"We knew it was going to be very tight. We looked at Wales's time [who finished second] and just went for it."

New Zealand's Rebecca Petch, Ellesse Andrews and Olivia King claimed gold in the women's team sprint with Canada sealing silver and Wales bronze.

Former BMX cyclist Petch said: "One year ago I was racing in Tokyo [2020 Olympic Games] for BMX.

"At the end of last year, I decided to get on the track and a few months ago I decided to take it a bit more seriously and come together with the girls. 

"We've always had hope, but training together has been important. Bringing [the gold medal] home is exciting."

Australia enjoyed more success in the men's team sprint with hosts England and New Zealand completing the podium with silver and bronze respectively.