Their quartet of Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente had finished four seconds clear of their nearest challengers Canada during yesterday’s qualification round by posting a time of 4min 16.180sec.

It raised the prospect of the thrilling first round contest against defending champions and current world record holders Australia, who had only been able to clock the fourth best time yesterday.

With the United States producing a fearsome pace during the early stages of the four kilometre event, they threatened to catch their rivals and were within sight of the world record time of 4:13.683, set by the Australians to win gold last year.

The American team eventually recorded the second fastest time in history by crossing in 4:14.806, with their effort seeing them advance to a gold medal ride against Canada, who had defeated New Zealand.

Led by five-time individual pursuit champion Hammer, the United States opened up a one second advantage by the halfway mark and although they lost a rider in the final kilometre, they were able to earn their maiden gold in the discipline by posting 4:16.802.

After a disastrous qualifying ride yesterday, Britain were only capable of claiming a bronze medal in front of a home crowd, having previously appeared in every final since the women’s team pursuit was introduced in 2008.

They bounced back with a national record time of 4:16.350 against China to qualify for a medal ride against New Zealand, with Australia missing out on the podium, after only managing the fifth fastest first round effort.

Britain’s quartet of Laura Trott, Elinor Barker, Ciara Horne and Joanna Roswell-Shand were able the claim the bronze after comfortably beating New Zealand in 4:16.350, a faster time than the United States had posted to win gold.

A stunning performance from 19-year-old Filippo Ganna brought to an end Italy’s wait for another men’s individual pursuit world champion.

Their last success in the discipline had come in 1976, when the legendary Francesco Moser claimed gold in Lecce, but Ganna produced a composed ride to defeat Domenic Weinstein 40-years on.

Despite being behind his German opponent for the opening three kilometres of the event, Ganna produced a strong final kilometre to overhaul his rival and secure top spot in 4:16.141.

An all-British bronze medal contest proved to be a closely fought affair, with Andy Tennant eventually posting 4:18.301, to finish 0.175 clear of his team-mate Owain Doull.

However, the host nation were soon celebrating gold, as a superb finish from Jon Dibben saw him top the podium in the men’s 40km points race.

A win in the penultimate sprint of the event had put him within touching distance of Austria’s Andreas Graf at the top of the leaderboard and the Briton produced a powerful effort in the final two laps.

It took him clear of his rivals to claim the final sprint unopposed, placing him above Graf, after both men ended on 48 points.

Belgium’s Kenny De Ketele clinched bronze by ending on a tally of 43.

Victory could prove key to Dibben’s chances of riding in the men’s omnium at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as he faces competition for the spot from fellow team pursuit rider Ed Clancy and Mark Cavendish.

The latter requires a strong showing in the six discipline event here to boost his prospects, but lies seventh at the half-way stage of the event, 18 points off the lead.

Cavendish had finished in second position in the men’s elimination race behind defending champion Fernando Gaviria, who also won the individual pursuit earlier in the day.

However a poor showing in the scratch races means the Colombian shares the overnight lead with Italy’s Elia Viviani, as both men have 102 points.

The final gold of the day was claimed by Russia’s Anastasiia Voinova, with the 23-year-old adding to her team sprint success by defending her women’s 500 metres time trial title.

Voinova, who set the world record in the discipline at the European Championships in September, posted a time of 32.959 to secure the win.

Hong Kong’s Wai Sze Lee claimed the silver medal after ending 0.777 further back, while The Netherlands’ Elis Ligtlee completed the podium on 33.760.