February 20/15 20:38 pm - Glaesser 6th in Individual Pursuit at World Championships
Posted by Editoress on 02/20/15
Two Canadians competed on Day 3 of the 2015 Track World Championships in St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, on Friday. Jasmin Glaesser was Canada's top finisher with a sixth place result in the women's Individual Pursuit, while Monique Sullivan was eliminated in the first round of the women's Sprint.
Sullivan qualified 14th in the Flying 200 metre time trial, but lost to Victoria Williamson of Great Britain in the first round of head-to-head sprinting. This is Sullivan's first world championship since the London Olympics, and she is steadily rebuilding her form.
"I was definitely hoping for more today," agreed Sullivan. "But it's all about learning and building for the next races, so I'm just taking what I can from this experience. I'm happy with the training I've had, but it's all about consistency, and soon I think everything will begin to come together."
Glaesser, a member of Canada's Team Pursuit squad, which won a bronze medal the day before, and set a new national record, came up flat in the 3000 metre Individual Pursuit after two hard rides the day before.
"I had some pretty high expectations today, Glaesser admitted. "I've had some great Individual Pursuits last month in Milton and training in L.A. [Los Angeles], so I knew that I was more than capable of being in the final. I'm absolutely gutted, but I was running on an empty tank today after the Team Pursuits [on Thursday, when Canada set a new national record]."
The gold medal in the women's Individual Pursuit went to Australia's Rebecca Wiasak. Wiasak is attending her first world championships, and her career is certainly off to a good start. Wiasak beat another first time world championships attendee, Jennifer Valente (USA) by three and a half seconds to take the title. Amy Cure (Australia) took bronze.
"This is my first World Championships," stated Wiasak, "I have never even won a national championship, so it is fantastic to get a World title. I missed out on a ride in the Team Pursuit yesterday, so it was very emotional watching my teammates win gold. I was very happy for them and they inspired me tonight."
"Jennifer [Valente] started strong, and I was riding to a schedule initially and I was a little up on my time. I thought 'it is probably a tactic ... she will try to unnerve me a little bit'. But I knew at the end if I just stayed strong and watched my coach; he knows me very well, we've been together two years, so just stuck to the race plan . I'm just so happy to get the win."
France took their third gold medal of the championships with French star Francois Pervis winning the men's 1000 metre time trial. It was Pervis' second title in as many days, after winning the Keirin title on Thursday. Pervis is the world record holder in the event and the two-time defending champion. With the French crowd roaring, Pervis had the fastest opening lap, and held on to win with a time of 1:00.207. Joachim Eilers (Germany) repeated as the silver medalist, while Matthew Archibald (New Zealand) took bronze.
"Yes, it is amazing," Pervis agreed. "For me it is a beautiful day. I won yesterday, I win today. Three weeks ago I say it is difficult for me to know which objective [was most important], but a win in France ... it is amazing."
"The Kilometre is very difficult, the most difficult sprint in track cycling. I finished and my legs are full of burning, a lot of lactic [acid]. I had a big pain in my head, and I couldn't walk. It was very difficult, but it is the Kilometre and I like it."
The first half of the men's Omnium was also contested, with Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Colombia) leading the Omnium with 110 points to Elia Viviani's (Italy) 102 after three events.
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