Laura Trott claims Great Britain's first gold medal at Cycling World Championships as she wins women's scratch track race 

Laura Trott has won Great Britain's first gold of the Track Cycling World Championships in London with victory in the women's scratch race.

The two-time Olympic champion put the disappointment of fifth-place in team pursuit qualifying earlier on Thursday behind her to win the non-Olympic discipline.

Trott finished ahead of Kirsten Wild of Holland and Canada's Stephanie Roorda.

Laura Trott at the medal ceremony after her win in women's scratch at Track Cycling World Championships

Trott poses on her own with Great Britain's first gold medal of the championships in London around her neck

It was Trott's sixth world title and second individual honour. Her only prior individual win was in the omnium at the 2012 World Championships in Melbourne.

Trott had been a team pursuit winner at four successive World Championships from 2011 to 2014 until having to settle for silver 12 months ago.

She can win bronze at best on Friday in the team pursuit after a disappointing qualifying ride.

Trott, Joanna Rowsell Shand, Ciara Horne and Elinor Barker clocked four minutes and 21.034 seconds to qualify for the first round in fifth.

Only the winners of the fastest two first-round heats can make the final, but the remainder of the top eight are ranked according to time, meaning Britain can, at best, place third.

The United States were the fastest qualifiers in 4mins 16.180secs, with Canada second, New Zealand third and Australia fourth.

Trott with Kirsten Wild of Holland (left) who won silver and bronze medalist Stephanie Roorda (right) of Canada

Trott smiles after winning the women's scratch race at the Track Cycling World Championships

Olympic champion Trott finished ahead of Kirsten Wild of Holland to claim Great Britain's first gold medal

Trott and Rowsell Shand won gold at London 2012 when the event was over 3km, with three riders, and celebrated on that occasion by singing along to 'Hey Jude' as Beatle Paul McCartney watched and sang along.

The event had been seen as Britain's 'banker' in recent years, but that now seems long ago in a worrying development ahead of the Rio Olympics.

The team were without one of their strongest riders after Katie Archibald suffered a knee injury in a motorbike crash which resulted in a stern rebuke from British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton.

Archibald's embarrassment may have increased as she watched on from the stands and saw Trott and Barker power away from Rowsell Shand and Horne.

The time is taken on the third rider, so Britain's lack of coherent teamwork was to their detriment. It was the equivalent of dropping the baton in an athletics relay.

British Cycling head coach Iain Dyer said: 'It's a disappointing performance. There's no way of dressing that any differently.

Trott celebrates with her supporters after winning in the championships held at London's Lee Valley VeloPark

'What we've got to do is turn it around and get ourselves back into medal contention tomorrow. We can still ride for bronze.

'We have known for a long time we wouldn't have Katie in London for the World Championships. We tried to give it our best shot here and it didn't pan out.

'It's fair to say it wasn't as cohesive (a performance) as it could've been.'

Dani King, a London 2012 gold medallist alongside Trott and Rowsell Shand in London, switched focus to the road after the Games.

She had intended to return to the velodrome and did so last summer, but British Cycling encouraged her to stay on the road, with the track event having moved on in her absence.

Dyer added: 'The event is very, very different from when Dani was Olympic champion and being 33 per cent longer as a discipline really does change the dynamic considerably. I'm confident the right call was made.'