October 17/14 13:48 pm - Interview with National Track Sprint Coach Erin Hartwell

Posted by Editor on 10/17/14
 

The national coaches and technical staff at Cycling Canada rarely have an opportunity to get together, with conflicting schedules in different parts of the world. However, this week, the entire group gathered in Mississauga to share information and begin to prepare for the next two years of very important events, including the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil. In addition, Cycling Canada is preparing to move into the Milton Velodrome within the next eight weeks.

We had the opportunity to meet with the group and get a photo of Canada's team of coaches and technical specialists, who will help our national team riders on the road, track, mountain bike, BMX and Para disciplines. We also had an opportunity to interview some of the newer members of the coaching team, and we will be bringing you those interviews in the next few days, with the National Track Sprint Coach Erin Hartwell today. Hartwell will oversee the Team Sprint, Individual Sprint and Keirin events.

Hartwell joined Cycling Canada this summer, in time for the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Am Track Championships, where Canada took multiple medals in sprint events. Hartwell was one of the top American sprinters in the 1990s, winning a bronze medal in the kilometre time trial at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and a silver medal in the kilometre time trial in1996 in Atlanta, as well as four UCI Track World Championship medals.

After retiring from cycling, he became president and CEO of the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, and then High Performance Director for the Trinidad and Tobago Cycling Federation. Hartwell will be based at the new velodrome in Milton alongside Canada's track endurance coaches, Craig Griffin and Ian Melvin.