March 25/18 15:27 pm - Canada Wins Fourth Medal on Final Day of Para Track Worlds
Posted by Editoress on 03/25/18
Canada finished the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships on Sunday with a fourth and final medal - a bronze for Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, BC, in the men's C1-3 Scratch Race. It is Chernove's third medal of these Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and gives him a complete set of gold, silver and bronze.
The only Canadian riders competing on the final day of competition at the Velodromo Municipal do Rio, the site of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, were Chernove and Ross Wilson of Edmonton, Alberta, a C1 rider in the same race.
The team mates worked together to put Chernove in a medal position. Alejandro Perea Arango of Colombia, who took the gold medal ahead of Chernove in the 1000 metre time trial, lapped the field to win the world title, with Chernove losing to Darren Hicks of Australia in the sprint for silver. Wilson finished tenth, the second C1 category athlete in the race.
"It's been great here," said Chernove, "with a little bit of deja vu from [the Paralympic Games] - a gold, a silver and a bronze, just like then! I'm very happy with the teamwork that Ross and I put together to get me up on the podium. It was definitely a team effort. Ross was continually attacking and that allowed me to not be marked, like I have been in the past. I got a little confused at the end because the bell rang with two to go [for race leader Perea Arango, a lap ahead] and I went to the front and then missed my jump for the sprint, unfortunately. But, I'm really happy with the result and really happy with the teamwork."
Wilson agreed, "I think this race was a really good demonstration of a lot of the work Tristen and I have done together. We targeted getting Tristen on the podium, and it's great to see that he is getting the results. He is clearly the guy who is going to be standing on the top step soon."
Sebastien Travers, Para Head Coach for Cycling Canada, summarized the project, which saw Canada win a total of four medals - one gold, two silver and one bronze. "I'm very happy with the team's results, with four medals. We also had two fourth place results and a tremendous fifth place for newcomer Keely Shaw [Saskatoon, Saskatchewan]. Overall, I'm pleased with how we stand compared to other nations that were here for these world championships; the level of competition was quite high. So we know exactly where we stand and exactly what we have to do. All of this can not happen without the strong support of Cycling Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and a huge thanks to our staff, who worked tirelessly all week."
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