Kate O’Brien of Calgary, AB, won Canada’s first Paralympic medal at Paris 2024 as she got her hands on bronze in the women’s C4 time trial on Aug. 29 at the Vélodrome national de St-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
O’Brien, who won silver in this event at Tokyo 2020, qualified in fourth place, clocking a factorized time of 36.873 seconds in the finals to get her hands on bronze. Caroline Groot of the Netherlands took gold with a time of 35.566 seconds, while France’s Marie Patouillet took silver with a time of 36.700 seconds.
“To be quite honest, I didn’t expect this,” said O’Brien. “I honestly didn’t think a medal was within reach, and I’ve never won a first medal in anything! It means so much and to receive so much support from my family and friends.” She added: “Obviously the times were very, very tight and the year leading up to Paris was a bit of a struggle for training. And so, honestly, I didn’t know if I would make the team and I came in and was able to get into the top six, make the finals and finish with a medal, it’s an absolute dream.”
Keely Shaw of Midale, SK, who is focusing on the women’s C4 individual pursuit event on Aug. 30, qualified 10th in the 500m time trial with a time of 44.520 seconds.
“The 500 is not my main event,” said Shaw. “But the way things went, with the time trial first and the pursuit the next day, we thought it was a good opportunity to have a little dress rehearsal before my main event. Today was all about testing the track and the environment, so there won’t be any surprises on my big day tomorrow.”
She is the only athlete on the Canadian cycling team to compete in four paracycling events at the Paris Paralympic Games.
Further information, including results and a full schedule of events, is available on the official Games website. Competition for Team Canada cyclists continues on August 30, when Keely Shaw and Alexandre Hayward will be in action in the individual pursuit in their respective categories.
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