August 5/23 8:58 am - First Medal for Canada at Worlds

Posted by Editoress on 08/5/23
 

Day 3 of competition at the 'super' Worlds saw Bodhi Kuhn take the first medal for Canada in the Junior men's Downhill, a silver. Kuhn came into the race one of the favourites after a very strong World Cup season so far, and was leading through the final two time checks before a mistake dropped him to second, 0.418 seconds behind Henri Kiefer of Germany. Two other Canadians finished in the top-10:  Tegan Cruz in sixth and Dane Jewett in tenth. Sophi Lawrence was the top Canadian Junior women in 14th; with the podium being swept by New Zealand.

On the track over the first few days, Dylan Bibic was sixth in the Scratch Race, where he was the defending champion. Maggie Coles-Lyster was eighth in the women's Scratch Race. The men's Team Pursuit squad also finished sixth, a strong result that bolsters their Olympic ranking. The Canadian women qualified eighth in their Team Pursuit to make it to the next round. In the Team Sprint, the Canadian women made it through the first round but not to the medal final, eventually finishing eighth overall. The men's Team Sprint finished ninth in qualifying and did not move on to the next round.

Derek Gee, who joined the men's Team Pursuit squad on the track before switching his focus to the road, said to us "I think we are really satisfied with the ride. We executed qualifying really, really well. It was tight, and we were hoping to find a few more spots in [the next round], and there was maybe a world that we could have found ourselves in the medal round, but to qualify sixth and end in sixth, we're really happy with it. I think it shows some really good form going into the Olympic Games and we have some big room for improvement."

In Para track, Mel Pemble won the Flying 200m in her C3 Omnium, where she is the defending champion. Tarek Dahab was third in the Flying 200m for the men's C2 Omnium. Earlier in the week, Keely Shaw qualified second in the C4 women's Individual Pursuit, and will ride for gold later in the competition. Mel Pemble was seventh in her Individual Pursuit, Tarek Dahab 12th and Alexandre Hayward eighth in C3 men. The men's tandem squad, Lowell Taylor and Ed Veal, were a last minute wild card entry into the track events - their first in nearly two years, finishing 11th in the Individual pursuit and 16th in the Kilo.

"I'm super happy with the placings and how it earned me some good points for the Omnium," Pemble told the Canadian Paralympic Committee. "I was super excited for this event and the legs were a bit shaky. I'll try and keep the stress and energy level down over the next day before my next race on Sunday."

In the Gran Fondo events, Esta Bovill (Women 45-49), Pascal Herve (Men 55-59) and Michelle Gagnon (Women 19-34) added three medals to Canada's count, winning a silver and two bronze respectively. Also earning top-10 finishes were Bruce Bird, who placed fifth in the Men 55-59 Gran Fondo, and Nathalie Champagne, who placed seventh in the Women 55-59 Medio Fondo.

Track Worlds Opens with ParaCycling Pursuits

Track Worlds: Day 2 results and Photos

Track Worlds: Day 3 results

Mountain Bike World Championships: Junior DH Finals results