Defending champion Elia Viviani (ITA) had his chances of winning the men's omnium at the Tokyo Olympics hanging by a thread.

Viviani finished 13th in the scratch race and 8th in the tempo race, but won the elimination race, and with one lap remaining in the points race, a silver medal was possible. However, a determined pursuit by Campbell Stewart (New Zealand) earned Viviani the bronze medal, and Matthew Walls (Great Britain) took the gold medal.

Viviani won the elimination race ahead of Walls, moving up to sixth overall with 82 points. However, he still needed to work very hard to keep his medal hopes alive. In the points race, he took back one lap and also made two successful intermediate sprints.

But Stewart, who had already taken a lap earlier in the race, struck again as part of a strong trio with 17 laps to go, scoring a lap and 20 points as well as points in several intermediate sprints. He scored double points in the final sprint to move up to second place in the standings.

Wall finished with 153 points, Stewart 129, and Viviani 124.

"If you look at the start of the scratch race, things were really bad. After the elimination race, luckily we knew we could win or get back in the game. We had a good response in the elimination races. I could have gained or lost everything in the points race and it worked out," Viviani said at the finish line.

"It's a real shame to lose the silver medal on the last lap, but considering how this event started, it's a really nice bronze medal."

Viviani competed 24 hours after Italy's stunning victory in the men's team pursuit. Viviani, who was part of the Endurance team but did not compete in the event, admitted that competing in the Omnium was stressful.

"Maybe a little bit stressed, but the joy yesterday was really great for us and the Team Pursuit group. We worked really well as a big team and with the gold and bronze medals we have a really good Tokyo 2020 Games. We still have one more race to go, but after the Omnium I feel really good right now. Simone [Consoni] showed what she is capable of and I think we can be one of the surprise teams in Madison, even though we are not the favorites to win."