The 25-year-old, who broke the world record in qualifying yesterday, has made the semi-finals of the men’s Sprint and will race Dutchman Jeffrey Hoogland.

Overnight he recorded a straight-sets win over Japan’s Yuta Obara in the quarter-finals at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome.

Matt produced a blistering burst of speed in the back straight to come around his opponent and take a 1-0 lead.

In the second heat, Obara tried a different tactic by accelerating at the front with over a lap to go but again Matt was able to match him and cruised through to the semi-finals in straight sets.

His best-of-three semi-final against Hoogland will start at 10:21pm AEST on Friday 9 August and if he wins that, he’s into the gold medal ride which is scheduled for 3.38am AEST on Saturday 10 August.

The former gymnast turned track cyclist already has a bronze medal from these Games after he combined with Matthew Glaetzer and Leigh Hoffman in the Team Sprint.

In other events at the velodrome overnight, Sam Welsford was back in the saddle less than 24 hours after he was part of Australia’s gold medal-winning Team Pursuit when he took his spot in the men’s Omnium which is the ultimate test of speed and endurance.

He finished with the bunch in the 40-lap scratch race, crossing the line in 14th place as Frenchman Benjamin Thomas took the honours and an early lead.

Sam was then 18th and outside the points in the tempo race and sat 16th overall halfway through the event.

In the elimination race where riders are forced out of the race one by one with every sprint past the finish line, Sam dug deep and made it to the final five before finally losing touch.

It improved his overall standing to 13th going into the final event of the omnium - the points race - where he remained with the field to finish 14th overall.

“It was taxing, but probably not as taxing as the last three days,” Australian track coach Glenn O’Shea said.

“To bounce back after the last three days physically and mentally is pretty tough. Mentally he was up for the challenge but you probably saw physically he lacked punch and that kind of thing.

“He’s fine, just super tired … you can’t underestimate what last night took out of them.”

Glenn confirmed that Sam would now rest and recover for the madison with Kelland O’Brien on Saturday.

In the women’s Keirin, Kristina Clonan was in the quarter-finals and did not advance after finishing sixth in the opening heat.

She will return to the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome for qualifying in the women’s Sprint from 10pm AEST on Friday 9 August.

Reece Homfray