Australia’s pulsating win in the men’s team pursuit final over fierce rivals Great Britain is the record-equalling 17th gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

Australia also won 17 at the Athens and Tokyo Games.

The Australian combination of Olympic medallists Sam Welsford and Kelland O’Brien, plus debutants Oliver Bleddyn and Conor Leahy, clocked three minutes 42.067 seconds to win Wednesday night’s decider.

It was not as quick as their world record time to qualify for the final, but enough for gold, and a place in Olympic history.

“Obviously I’m super happy. I’m just really proud of the team and it’s an awesome battle (with) Great Britain obviously – really happy to be on top,” O’Brien said.

The British foursome of Ethan Hayter, Daniel Bigham, Charlie Tanfield and Oliver Wood were within around two tenths of a second at the start of the last lap.

Their race ended in dramatic fashion, nearly crashing on the last lap as they tried to snatch the win.

Designated finisher Hayter was leading their paceline when he slipped in his saddle and had to swing up the track, somehow avoiding a spill that would have brought down his three teammates.

British riders narrowly avoided a touch of wheels, clocking 3:44.394 to finish two seconds behind.

Bigham revealed post-race that their warmup song is Australian – and that the winners took them by surprise.

“Inside scoop – Men at Work, Down Under. It’s become a thing,” he said.

“We came in thinking our main competition would probably come from Denmark and Italy.

“I genuinely feel we underestimated what the Aussies would bring to the party. They have lifted it a huge amount and that cannot be denied – that’s seriously impressive.”

Bigham confirmed they came close to disaster on the last lap, adding they felt they were where they needed to be before the mishap.

“That was close … we knew we were (within) two tenths and that’s all you need,” he said.

Australia broke the world record in Tuesday’s first round at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome outside Paris with 3:40.730 to qualify fastest.

In the final, the Australian quartet was behind at 1km, but only by .007 of a second, and led for much of the rest of the race.

This is Australia’s first gold medal in Olympic track cycling since Anna Meares, now the team chef de mission, beat her British rival Victoria Pendleton in the sprint at the 2012 London Games.

The Australian cycling campaign in Paris now boasts three gold medals and two bronze, the second-best Olympics since the six gold won at the Athens Games.

It is also a massive turnaround from Tokyo, when a sole bronze in the men’s team pursuit was the worst Australian haul at the Olympic velodrome since Moscow 1980.

The abiding moment of the disastrous track campaign in Tokyo was Alex Porter face-planting at 60km/h in men’s team pursuit qualifying when his handlebar snapped off.

Australia’s only cycling gold in Tokyo was Logan Martin in BMX freestyle.

Bulking out Australia’s golden haul in Paris, BMX racer Saya Sakakibara and road time trial specialist Grace Brown also won their events.

Also on Wednesday, Australians Matthew Richardson and Leigh Hoffman made solid starts in the match sprint.

Richardson was second-fastest in qualifying and Hoffman was fourth as Dutch ace Harrie Lavreyson rode a world record 9.088 seconds for the flying 200m.

Richardson has progress to the quarter-finals, but Hoffman has an 1/8 round repechage ride.

Kristina Clonan won her repechage heat to stay alive in the women’s keirin, while Australia finished seventh in the women’s team pursuit.