London, Aug 2 (IANS/RIA Novosti): China's Gong Jinjie and Guo Shuang were demoted to the silver medal in the women's team sprint cycling Thursday, with gold going to Germany's Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte here at the Olympics.

The Chinese pair appeared to have been relegated for an illegal changeover, the same fault that had earlier stopped Britain's Victoria Pendleton and Jessica Varnish competing in the final after initially qualifying in the German pair's place.

The medal ceremony was delayed as the Chinese riders and coaches argued with cycling officials.

Gong and Guo set a time of 32.619 seconds in the final, 0.197 seconds outside the world record they had set earlier in the day, and 0.179 seconds faster than Vogel and Welte.

The Australian pair of Kaarle McCullogh and Anna Meares charged to victory in the bronze medal race, beating the Ukrainian pair of Olena Tsyos and Lyubov Shulika.

McCullogh and Meares won in a time of 32.727 seconds, which would have been an Olympic record earlier in the day, with the Ukrainian 0.764 seconds behind.