The U.S. entered the Women's Team Pursuit at the Tokyo Olympics as the world champions, but they were far behind Germany and second-place Great Britain in the qualifying round.

After qualifying third, the team is still in contention for a medal, but USA Cycling coach Gary Sutton admitted that the team needs to rethink its strategy, saying, "Tomorrow is a different day."

The U.S. will face Great Britain in the first round on Tuesday, with the winner advancing to the gold medal final. If the U.S. women lose to Great Britain, they would have to be at least the fourth fastest of all teams to advance to the bronze medal round.

Germany set a new world and Olympic record with a super slick run of 4:07.307. Great Britain was second in 4:09.022, the U.S. third in 4:10.118, and Italy fourth in 4:11.666. New Zealand was sixth in 4:12.536, Australia was seventh in 13.571, and Canada recorded 4:15.832.

Led by Rio silver medalists Jen Valente and Chloe Dygert, followed by newcomers Lily Williams and Emma White, the U.S. women had a fast start, midway between the German and British times after an early dash to the start.

Diggart moved to the front in the last kilometer and caught up to Williams, widening the gap to Williams and forcing White and Valente to scramble to stay in touch with the Americans. But they were already in third place as they fell behind the British in the first few laps and were passed by the Germans after one kilometer.

"We knew we were going to break world records this week," said Harte. 'The course was fast and the plan was 4:07. The plan was 4:07. That was the plan."

Italy will face Germany on Tuesday.

Germany's Franziska Brause, Lisa Brenauer, Lisa Klein, and Mieke Krager broke the world and Olympic records with a time of 4:07.307.

The British, however, were on the verge of breaking the German record until the last kilometer.

Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Laura Kenny, and Josie Knight led until the 3500m mark, when Knight lost contact and was forced to increase her pace to keep the team together. The final kilometer was the fifth fastest, finishing in 4:09.022.

The U.S., which had been dominant in last year's pre-track World Championships pandemic, now had Italy in its rearview mirror as it chased rapidly in the final kilometer. After falling behind France and Australia at the earlier check, Italy finished in fourth place, 1.5 seconds behind the US.

"That's where we are now," Sutton said. [Tomorrow is a different day. We'll be back. We'll look at the data, look at the composition of the pool, and try to arrange it. That's a big gap. But tomorrow is a different day."