Canada Wins First Medal of 2015 Track World Championships

Canada Wins First Medal of 2015 Track World Championships

Day 2 of the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, saw five world titles awarded, with a second world record also set.  Canada won its first medal of these championships with a bronze in the Women’s Team Pursuit.

For a fourth straight year, Canada was on the podium in the Team Pursuit.  After struggling in the opening round on Wednesday, the Canadian team of Allison Beveridge, Jasmin Glaesser, Kirsti Lay and Steph Roorda came back in round two on Thursday with a time three seconds faster then their previous one, setting a Canadian record of 4:17.799.  They finished second in their heat to defending world champions Great Britain, who went on to the gold medal final against Australia, while Canada faced New Zealand.  In the bronze medal final Canada won by nearly five seconds.

“I was disappointed in our performance yesterday,” admitted Glaesser, “we made some technical errors that didn’t show what we could do out there.  So, I think we came back today and redeemed ourselves a little bit.  Everyone today … we really focussed, we set our minds to it and committed to our ride, and I think that showed.”

The first title was awarded in the women’s 500 metre Individual Time Trial, with the same three medalists as last year, but reverse order.  Russia’s Anastasia Voynova took gold after finishing the bronze medal position last year, while world record holder Anna Meares of Australia retained silver, and defending champion Miriam Welte of Germany dropped to bronze.  Canada’s Kate O’Brien, racing at her first world championships, finished 18th.

“I’m still pretty new to this,” explained O’Brien, “so it’s hard to say what time I expected.  It’s an indication of where I am right now, and I know that I have some more work to do.”

In the men’s Keirin, Canada’s Hugo Barrette did not make it out of the first round.  In the Repechage race, Barrette attempted to break away with a lap to go and was leading by eight bike lengths with less than a lap to go.  However, he was caught ten metres from the line.  He admits to disappointment, commenting “it’s the world championships, and everyone showed up with great legs today.  I’m in the best shape of my life, but wasn’t able to make the semi-finals, so that’s really disappointing.  I gave my best and it just wasn’t enough.”