Saya Sakakibara, Lauren Reynolds and Izaac Kennedy will be back in action from 4am AEST on 3 August when they will attempt to secure a spot in the final.

They all shone in the quarter-finals where they had to navigate three heats, with the top 12 riders securing automatic entry to the next round.

Saya was the standout winning all three of her heats in a dominant performance to finish the night as the top qualifier.

“Today I had a lot of those race-day nerves, it usually hits me a few days before and that’s when I have my emotional burst, but it actually happened this morning which I think is because the racing is much later and there’s so much anticipation,” Saya said.

“Once I got on top of the start hill, everyone was cheering, I could feel the energy, feel the pressure, and I’m like ‘this is where I thrive’ and all I had to do was focus on my process.

“This Olympic experience is super-new to me, I did have Tokyo but that was completely different. But I do know how to do a gate, I know how to race and how to win so I just kept reminding myself of that and went out and did my best.”

Four-time Olympian Lauren finished fourth, third and third to qualify ninth overall and said she was in the best shape of her life.

“Day one in the books and had some good laps, stuck to my process and it went pretty well,” Lauren said.

“I’ve really leaned on my Olympic experience knowing what to expect, it doesn’t get easier but I’m hungrier than I’ve ever been so there’s that element of feeling really capable and that adds pressure but I know my process.”

Izaac was fifth, second and then won his final heat to move into the next round as the sixth best qualifier.

“I wasn’t too happy with the entire day overall, it was a bit of a rough start but I think I turned it around pretty well, shook the rust off and will come back tomorrow,” Izaac said.

The semi-final format will see riders compete in three heats with the top eight making the one-lap final and race for gold.

Reece Homfray