Meares, Morton miss cycling medal

Australian team flag bearer Anna Meares has started her Olympic campaign with an agonising near-miss.

Meares and Stephanie Morton were leading the bronze medal ride against Germany until well into the second of their two laps.

But Kristina Vogel overhauled Morton late to give Germany the win, 32.636 seconds to 32.658.

China broke the world record on the way to beating Russia for the gold medal, with their 31.928 the first sub-32 second ride.

"So close - I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed," Meares said.

"That's brutally disappointing to finish that close to an Olympic medal.

"At the same time, I'm really proud of the performances that Stef and I put forward."

Meares and Morton said they would not change anything about how they rode against Germany.

"It's agonising to come so close, but to get three really quality rounds, I'm really happy," Morton said.

"We don't usually race three rounds, that's the first time I've done it.

"So I'm really happy with my rides ... I left it all out on the track."

The Australian men also narrowly missed the bronze medal on Thursday.

Meares admitted she had struggled with the focus of being the team flag bearer, but had welcomed the gap between the opening ceremony and her first event on Friday.

"I had maybe one day when I felt it quite significantly - I found it very hard to come to training and focus," she said.

"I just felt the pressure and expectation.

"But I didn't hit the panic button, which is what I'd normally do in competition."

Meares was asked whether anything less than a gold medal would do from here in the sprint and keirin.

"I will tell you after - I have two goals for these Games," she said.

The two Australians will race in the keirin on Saturday.