April 22/23 23:45 pm - Mitchell Wins Sprint Title at Nations Cup

Posted by Editoress on 04/22/23
 

Canada's Kelsey Mitchell added a gold medal in the women's Sprint on Saturday night to the silver she won on Friday in the Team Sprint, at the Nations Cup in Milton. James Hedgcock finished fourth in the men's Keirin, his first ever medal final at this level of competition.

Mitchell qualified fourth for the Sprint, with team mate Lauriane Genest qualifying first. However, Genest went out in the quarterfinals to eventual bronze medalist Daniela Gaxiola Gonzalez of Mexico. Mitchell lost only one ride in her path to the gold medal final, where she went up against perennial rival Martha Bayona of Colombia. In the final, Mitchell won the first ride, Bayona the second, and then the Olympic champion dominated the third and final ride to win gold.

Story continues below photos

Photo gallery: Women Sprint Semi and Final

"I am so happy with my result. I know I'm not at my best so I had to race more tactically than normal," said Mitchell. "Normally, I just power through it and rely on my athletic abilities to win the races. But I really think I learned a lot and used the track properly. I want to take this momentum in the training block going forward and into Worlds to hopefully get more points for Olympic qualifying."

In the Keirin, Hedgcock had to qualify by winning the Repechage, and then made it to the medal final with a strong second place in the second round. He got boxed in, in the final, but recovered to move up to fourth, just out of the medals. Matthew Richardson (Australia) took gold, followed by Nicholas Paul (Trinidad & Tobago) in silver and Maximilian Dornbach (Germany) in bronze. Canadians Ryan Dodyk and Nick Wammes did not advance past the Repechage.

Michael Foley was the only other Canadian to compete on Day 3, but finished one spot out of qualifying for the men's Omnium competition.

Canada did not have a team in the women's Madison, which was won by the world champion Belgian team.

Photos

Women Sprint Qualifying and 1/8

Women Sprint Semi and Final

Nations Cup Milton: Day 3 results