Santiago, CHE (Oct. 22, 2023) – Molly Simpson of Red Deer, AB, earned a silver medal in the Women’s BMX Racing Final at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games on Oct. 22 in Chile.
The 20-year-old arrived to Pista BMX sitting third after yesterday’s seeding runs, and subsequently delivered consistent top-three finishes across six quarter- and semi-final heats. Her time in the final of 36.000s was just over a second away from winner Mariana Pajón Londoño (COL) and her time of 34.400s. Colombia also took the bronze medal with Gabriela Bolle Carrillo’s 36.500s.
“Honestly, I think that was the craziest race I’ve ever raced,” said Simpson, who was the U23 Women’s bronze medallist at the 2022 UCI BMX Racing World Championships. “Came out of lane five and decent start, just tried to get over but there was carnage, people were hitting tires and it was just crazy. I did my best to get out of that and hold that second spot. I looked up to Mariana Pajón for so long, she’s two-time Olympic gold medallist, she’s my idol so placing behind her is just amazing. It shows that I’m almost there and I’ve just got to keep working and I’m really enjoying it.”
While Simpson was the only Canadian to progress to the final, her teammates all successfully made it to the semifinal rounds. Teigen Pascual, 20, of Squamish, BC, placed ninth overall for the women. In the men’s competition, Ryan Tougas, 21, of Pitt Meadows, BC, and Curtis Krey, 20, of Etobicoke, ON, finished 10th and 11th respectively. The men’s podium was topped by Kamren Larsen (31.810s) and Cameron Wood (31.860s) of the United States, with Carlos Alberto Ramirez Yepes of Colombia earning bronze (32.400s).
“The team worked really hard for this,” said Adam Muys, Canadian National Cycling Team Coach. “Molly battled throughout the day, had a small mistake in her second semi-final, which we capitalized on by learning moves to make in the final. I’m really happy she performed her best to take the silver medal. Coming into this, Ryan was dealing with a bit of an injury, which he worked through and pushed himself until the last heat for making the final, where he just missed out. Curtis, too, was coming back from an early season injury. It was really exciting to see him battle all year to get back to the level he wants to be at.”
Road competition also began today with the individual time trial. 21-year-old Ngaire Barraclough of Edmonton, AB, rode to sixth place for the women. She tackled the 20km route through the flat, winding streets of Isla de Maipo with a final time of 27:11.65m. Ruby West, 24, of Dundas, ON, stopped the clock approximately a minute later (28:12.65m) to finish 12th overall. Women’s gold went to the United States’ Kristen Faulkner (25:45.38m), with Arlenis Sierra Cañadilla of Cuba taking silver (26:07.11m) and Aranza Villalón Sánchez earning bronze (26:07.28m).
The men did a second lap of the course to ride a total of 40km. Chris Ernst, 24, of Kitchener, ON, placed 10th for Canada (49:47.37m) while 18-year-old Campbell Parrish of Vancouver, BC, placed 13th (50:08.45m). The winning time of 47:02.72m was set by Walter Alejandro Vargas Alzate of Colombia. Ecuador’s Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro finished next for silver with 47:36.02m, while bronze when to Bermuda’s Conor White and his time of 48:13.02m.
“It’s nice to get one race done and get some confidence out of that, a little bit of the first-Games nerves out of the way, too,” commented Ruby, who – along with Barraclough, Ernst and Parrish – will also be participating in the road race and track endurance events. “It gives a little confidence heading into the track later this week and I’m excited to be reunited with my teammates – it was a lonely ride out there today so I’ll be excited to have my teammates back!”
More information, including results and the full schedule of events, can be found at www.santiago2023.org. Competition for Team Canada’s cyclists continues Oct. 24 with track competition for the omnium, team pursuit and team sprint.