Mørkøv was among the starters when the event was last contested at the Olympic Games back at Beijing 2008.

He has twice since been crowned world champion in the discipline, back in 2009 and with Norman Hansen in 2020.

The pair trailed Britain’s newly crowned omnium Olympic champion Matt Walls and Ethan Hayter early on, while France’s Benjamin Thomas and Donovan Grodin remained in contention.

Thomas and Grodin won three consecutive sprints as the second half of the 200-lap race began, with the 15 points pushing them into the lead.

An impressive response from Hansen and Mørkøv saw the Danish duo take the lead with four sprints remaining, which they protected to claim victory on a score of 43 points.

Silver appeared to be heading to Thomas and Grodin as the double points final sprint approached, but Walls and Hayter claimed the maximum 10 points on offer to the French pair’s two.

Both teams finished with 40 points overall, with Walls and Hayter taking silver due to their higher finishing position in the final sprint.

“I've been waiting a very long time for this," said Mørkøv.

"In 2008, my partner Alex Rasmussen and I were leading the World Cup and we were among the favourites for the Games, and we finished sixth.

"The year after I was world champion and then this event was taken off the Olympic programme.

"It was a big bummer, but in 2017 when I heard it was back on the programme, I was in no doubt that this would be my shot at an Olympic medal."

The women’s sprint competition concluded with the line-up for tomorrow’s semi-finals decided.

World champion Emma Hinze overcame newly crowned Olympic keirin champion Shanne Braspennincx of the Netherlands in straight rides.

Hinze's compatriot Lea Friedrich bowed out after losing in three races against Ukraine’s Olena Starikova.

Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell overcame her compatriot Lauraine Genest in both their quarter-final races to advance, a feat mirrored by Hong Kong’s Lee Wai Sze against Britain’s Katy Marchant.

The opening round of the men’s keirin saw Olympic champion Jason Kenny of Britain and newly crowned sprint gold medallist Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands drop into the repechage.

The pair came through the repechage to take their place in tomorrow’s quarter-finals.