August 31/12 9:24 am - Paralympic Games: Track Day 2 results

Posted by Editoress on 08/31/12
 

The second day of racing at the velodrome in London. Today's races are: Men C1, 2, 3 Individual Pursuit, Women B (tandem) Kilo TT. Men C 4-5 Kilo Time Trial Final.

The 2012 Paralympic Games continued today with yet more exciting track cycling action in the state-of-the-art velodrome at the Olympic Park in London.

Eric Van Den Eynde, Head coach of the Canadian Para-Cycling Team, was very thoughtful after the second day of competition at the track. "For the second day on the track, if we look at individual performances, it went well. It is certain that at the Paralympic Games, we are always looking at medal performances, but we must also look at the individual and personal performances. It should be observed that the level of competition is much stronger here.”

In the Men’s C2 individual Pursuit, Arnold Boldt of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, went on to place 12th in the race, posting a qualifying time of 4:13.458.

“With respect to Arnold, it must be remembered that he never excelled on the track. There is not too many velodromes in Saskatchewan [note: there are no velodromes in Saskatchewan] and in a previous competition, he fell on the track and is since very fearful. He trained a few times at thin Bromont, but he still not comfortable. He is intimidated by the velodrome.”

Jaye Milley of Calgary placed seventh of the C1 Individual Pursuit with time of 4:24.673, while friend and teammate Brayden McDougall was disqualified for getting too close to his competitor in the last lap of his race. Milley is coming back from an injury that saw him miss valuable training time.

“The only shadow of the day is disqualification of Brayden McDgougall. It is always difficult in competition with athletes who have congenital disabilities. Brayden was probably very excited by the noise of the crowd, and approached within 10 metres of his competitor during the last turn. If you look at his time, today, Brayden has achieved a personal best. He still has a lot of cycling in him, and has a promising future,” added Van Den Eynde.

“With Jaye, there are many factors that must be taken into account. Jaye did suffer from an injury after the World Cup races in Baie Comeau. The injury prevented him from putting on his prosthesis, so he was kept out of training for a few weeks. He returned to training intensively after his recovery, but he is not in optimal form here. Today, however, he was 12 seconds faster than his individual pursuit performance at the World Championships, so it is a very positive sign.”