August 29/18 14:45 pm - Pan Am Track Championships: Canada Wins Bronze Medal on Day 1

Posted by Editoress on 08/29/18
 

Canada Wins Bronze Medal on Day 1 of Pan Am Track Championships

Team Canada opened the Pan American Track Championships on Wednesday in Aguascalientes, Mexico, with a bronze medal on the first day of competition.  In the women's Team Sprint, the squad of Amelia Walsh of Ayr, Ontario, and Lauriane Genest of Levis, Quebec, finished with a time of 33.515 seconds for the two lap race, to beat Cuba for the bronze medal.  Mexico defeated the United States for the gold medal.  The Continental Championships offer valuable points for nation ranking in qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games.

"It's really good," said Genest, "at Commonwealth Games we had a good ride but we were disqualified. So getting a good ride in this morning [in qualifying] was really important. Then to be on the podium, I'm really happy about that and it's great for my confidence. We're already faster than at Commonwealths so this is a great sign that we're progressing well."

In other competition, both the Canadian women's and men's Team Pursuit squads qualified for Thursday's bronze medal final by finishing third and fourth, respectively, in their opening heats.  In the women's Scratch Race, Devaney Collier of Edmonton, Alberta, finished fourth, despite crashing in the final sprint.

Results from the first day of racing at the Pan Am Track Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico