August 12/23 5:16 am - Para Athletes Win 2 More Medals for Canada, Johnston 4th in MTB

Posted by Editoress on 08/12/23
 

In the Para road races, Nathan Clement (Men's T1) and Shelley Gautier (Women's T1) each won bronze in their respective events; earlier in the week, Clements won the world title and Gautier won bronze in the time trials. Emilly Johnston came close to the podium in the women's Under-23 cross-country, finishing fourth.

Johnston missed her pedal at the start and finished the start loop in ninth place, missing the front group that had formed. She steadily worked her way back up through the field to claim fourth. Ella MacPhee was 24th, Marie Fay St Onge 37th, Ophelie Grandmont 38th and Jocelyn Stel 40th. In the Under-23 men's race, medal contender Carter Woods dropped his chain at the start, and was last off the line, losing an immediate 15-20 seconds. He had to work his way through the entire field, eventually finishing 11th. Owen Clark was 49th and Zorak Paille 66th.

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"Definitely it's bittersweet," admitted Johnston, "especially since I kept closing on the leaders through the whole race. I felt that I was so close and that if I had had another lap I could have gotten there. But I'm really stoked because I've been struggling to get myself in the correct headspace for these races. After my really strong start to the season in Nove Mesto, I've been searching for the proof that that wasn't a one-off. I just rode my own race and kept driving it, and pushing up all the climbs; I was really happy with how I rode today The course is so fun; there is nothing better than to race your mountain bike in Scotland on a sunny day!"   Interview on FB

On the road, Junior national time trial champion Matthew Ney was 12th in his time trial, with Alexis Bouchard 56th. In the Elite men's time trial, Derek Gee was 17th and Nick Zukowsky 45th.

Other Canadian Para road race results were Kara Douville (Women's H4) placing sixth, Matthew Kinnie (Men's H2) seventh and Louis-Albert Jolin Corriveau (Men's T2) 14th. In the Men's H3 category Alex Hyndmanwas 17th, Joey Desjardins 19th and Charles Moreau 22nd.

In Cycle-Ball, Canadians Benoît Fisch and Patrice Lavoie won their League B game against Great Britain, but lost to Romania, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia, ranking sixth after the Group round.

MTB World Championships: U23 XCO results and Photos