St-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Aug. 10, 2024) – The riders continued to give their best, despite a challenging week of competition in the track cycling events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games held at the St-Quentin-en-Yvelines national velodrome on Aug. 9 and 10.
Ontario’s Nick Wammes, who had competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and James Hedgecock were forced to compete in the men’s keirin repechage at the end of the day. It was thanks to the relegation of French rider Rayan Helal that Wammes, who had finished third in his wave, was able to finish in second place, enabling him to secure his ticket for the quarter-finals, to be held tomorrow, August 11.
“It’s been a tough week,” commented Wammes, “I’ve struggled to find my legs and momentum. I went into this competition wanting to give it my all, it’s the Olympics, it only happens every four years, and I had to give it my all. I’m ready, I’m going to reset and I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Following the disqualification of a rider in his wave, Hedgecock needed to finish in the top two of the repechage to have any hope of racing the following day. On a start already reduced to four riders, rather than five, Hedgecock was on course to win the race, before the wave was neutralized due to the heavy fall of Kwesi Browne from Trinidad and Tobago. On a re-run, this time with three riders, Hedgecock was again able to win her wave, qualifying for the Aug. 11 finals.
Sprinters Kelsey Mitchell, of Sherwood Park, Alberta, and Lauriane Genest, of Lévis, Quebec, were in individual sprint qualifying action on August 9. Only Kelsey Mitchell, reigning Olympic champion in the discipline, was able to advance to the quarter-finals on August 10, after winning her repechage heat. She ended her day by losing to Germany’s Lea Friedrich. Mitchell will race on August 11 in the final for places 5 to 8.
“I wanted to bring home a medal,” said Mitchell. “Obviously, my victory in Tokyo set the bar very high and I would have liked to repeat the feat and bring home a medal for Canada. I can only blame myself, but I did everything I could to avoid this result. I want to go out there tomorrow and hopefully get fifth place, do my best and represent my country.”
Lauriane Genest from Lévis, Quebec, lost in the round of 16, where she was also beaten by Friedrich. She was unable to improve her lot in the repechage.
In the Madison race on Aug. 9, Canadians Ariane Bonhomme of Gatineau, Quebec, and Maggie Coles-Lyster of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, finished in 15th place. Italy won the Olympic title, while Great Britain and the Netherlands took silver and bronze.
On Aug. 10, it was the turn of the men, Mathias Guillemette of Trois-Rivières, Quebec and Michael Foley of Milton, ON, to join forces in the American race. The duo also finished 13th, while Portugal took top honors, followed by Italy and Denmark.
“We had a bad time at the start,” commented Foley, “We got separated at the back, so we chased for a long time to try and stay on that lap and I think we paid for it. We wanted to try and get in a good position and stay on the lap, obviously that’s not how we ended up, but we did our best, so it’s hard to be too upset.”
Further information, including results and the full schedule of events, is available at olympics.com. Competition for Team Canada cyclists concludes on Aug. 11, when athletes will be in action in the men’s keirin and women’s omnium.
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