A SIMPLE matter of arithmetic let down Abergavenny’s Rachel James as she missed out on a medal in a disappointing day for Wales in the velodrome.

The older sister of Becky James admitted that she and her visually impaired teammate Rhiannon Henry miscounted the number of laps to go in their qualifying race.

Former swimmer Henry and her pilot James finished up sixth in the women’s para-sport sprint B tandem at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

“My legs feel good but I’m very disappointed about this morning. We made a mistake with counting the laps,” said James on her Commonwealth Games debut.

“We thought we had an extra one so when we heard the bell it was a bit of a shock!

“Mistakes happen but it’s a shame it had to happen here.

“But considering the preparation we had you can’t expect miracles.

“We only had three weeks together beforehand so it’s difficult and the way we performed wasn’t really representative of how we’ve done in training.”

Thankfully, James and Henry have another chance to secure a medal before Glasgow 2014 is over for them.

The pair go for gold in the Tandem B 1km time trial on Sunday when Becky James, who missed these Games through injury, will be there to cheer on her sister.

“We’ve got another event on Sunday and that’s probably our strongest event so we’re looking forward to that,” said James.

“The kilo is less tactical and more just flat out from the start and I think that will suit us better.

“Rhi is an endurance rider and I’m more of a sprinter and I’m hoping those two things will work well together in the kilo and she can help me through the end, which is usually my weakest part of the race.

“My family are all here and I’ve had a good chat with them,” she added.

“Mum and dad and my little sister are all here and my boyfriend as well and Becky is coming up on Sunday.

“She’s doing really well in rehab and she’s recovering but she’s just trying to ease herself back in gently because she doesn’t want any more injuries.”

Monmouthshire’s Lewis Oliva was also disappointed to not progress beyond qualifying in the men’s sprint.

“It’s obviously hard to come off worst but I can’t be too disheartened,” said the man from Devauden.

“I recorded a PB so I can’t really argue with that but hopefully there’s more to come from me this season.”