January 28/20 17:40 pm - Para Track Worlds to Be Streamed Live & Kate O'Brien Joins Team Canada

Posted by Editoress on 01/28/20
 

The final major Para Track competition before the Paralympics is the Para Track Worlds, which takes place this weekend at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ontario, from Thursday to Sunday (January 30 - February 2). The Canadian Paralympic Committee and CBC/Radio-Canada will be bringing live streaming coverage of the competition to viewers across the country as part of the Paralympic Super Series.

Team Canada

Team Canada was previously announced with six riders: Tristen Chernove, Marie-Claude Molnar, Keely Shaw, Lowell Taylor and pilot Ed Veal, and Ross Wilson. They have now been joined by former track sprinter Kate O'Brien, who was classified on Monday as a C4 category athlete, and who will compete in the 500m and 200m time trial events.

O'Brien represented Canada at the Rio Olympic Games as a sprinter with Monique Sullivan, before suffering a career-ending head injury after a training crash. She has now rejoined Team Canada on the Para squad.

"After my injury a couple of years ago Para was introduced to me as an idea and it has come to fruition. I'm so excited [to be back racing] and the para team has been so amazing, and I'm looking forward to being able to do the thing that I love again. You forget how much you love something until you get back to it."

[See our interview with Kate on our Facebook page, as well as interviews with Tristen and Ross.

Three team members captured medals at last year's track world championships - Chernove, Shaw, and Wilson. A total of 160 athletes from 32 nations will be racing in Milton; the event is the last opportunity for track racers to earn qualifying points for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for my teammates and I to showcase to our family, friends and supporters in Canada the dynamic and exciting nature of track Para cycling firsthand," said Wilson, a three-time Paralympic medallist. "For those lucky enough to attend or those watching on the livestreams, it will be an opportunity to learn our sport, and to see and comprehend the passion, dedication, ability and speed of the athletes."

Team and Staff

Viewers will be able to follow the action via the free CBC Gem streaming service, cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and CPC Facebook page, as well as the Radio-Canada Sports app and radio-canada.ca/sports;. The live streaming will cover all finals, and coverage begins on Thursday, January 30th at 3 p.m. ET (12 p.m. PT).

Paralympian Benoît Huot will be in Milton as the CPC's onsite reporter, with supplementary content to be shared on the CPC's social media channels, including interviews with the athletes, highlights packages, and live clippings during the events.

The 2020 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships is the first event of the year to be live streamed as part of the Paralympic Super Series, which provides coverage of Canada's Para athletes at significant competitions outside of the Paralympic Games. A partnership between the Canadian Paralympic Committee and CBC/Radio-Canada, the Paralympic Super Series launched in 2019 and has since featured world championships in Para alpine skiing, Para nordic skiing, Para ice hockey, Para swimming, Para athletics, as well as the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games.

Live coverage will stream daily and include all competition finals. The complete schedule is below:

Thursday, January 30
3 - 9:35 p.m. ET

Friday, January 31
11 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. ET
4:30 - 6:30 p.m. ET

Saturday, February 1
1 - 2 p.m. ET
3 - 9:05 p.m. ET

Sunday, February 2
12 - 1:45 p.m. ET
3 - 7:15 p.m. ET