July 14/13 18:32 pm - Canadian Juniors Shine at Pan Am Track Championships with 6 Medals
Posted by Editoress on 07/14/13
The 2013 UCI Junior Track Pan-American Championships ended on Friday (July 12th) in Mexico, and Canada showed some great potential with its future generation of track cyclists winning six medals including four titles.
Canada's Junior women's Pursuit team came away with gold after beating Mexico in the final on Thursday. Although Ariane Bonhomme (Gatineau, QC), Kinley Gibson (Edmonton, AB), Sarah Mason (London, ON) and Kristen Sears (Ancaster, ON) only rode together for the first time in the last couple weeks, they have set the bar high for the Canadian track endurance program. With the women's Team Pursuit now having been increased to four kilometres, the team's time of 4:42:067 is also a new Canadian record.
"This result bodes well for the future of our track endurance programs," said Cycling Canada High Performance Director and Head Coach Jacques Landry. "The athletes' performances show that our provincial coaches have already done great work, and we can expect even better in the coming years, especially with the construction of the Milton Velodrome."
Unfortunately for Mason, she crashed in the women's elimination race later that evening, breaking her collarbone. She is undergoing surgery in Mexico and is expected to recover quickly, though she will miss several weeks of racing.
Eric Johnstone (Calgary, AB) had a brilliant week in Mexico, winning three medals. He took the gold medal in the Kilo in a time of 1:03:247, setting the new Pan-American Championships record and new Canadian Junior record. He also won a pair of silver medals in the men’s Omnium and the Individual Pursuit, in which he also set a new Canadian record of 3:18.753
In addition to her team pursuit title, Kinley Gibson also took the highest honours with a gold medal in the women’s Omnium, the grueling six-race event featuring both sprint and endurance events. Marc-Antoine Noel (Drummondville, QC) won gold in the men’s Scratch Race.
Cycling Canada press release
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