Annie Foreman-Mackay on her bronze medal win at the 2016 track cycling world championships
"It’s really, really exciting," Foreman-Mackay said after the medal ceremony. "It’s my first time at the start line for a world championship event."
by Kevin Mackinnon
Canada’s first medal at the track cycling world championships came in the form of a bronze medal won by Annie Foreman-Mackay.
After setting a personal best time in qualifying, Foreman-Mackay earned herself a spot in the bronze medal race, where she beat American Ruth Winder to earn the medal. Foreman-Mackay’s winning time of 3:36.055 was more than three seconds ahead.
“It’s really, really exciting,” Foreman-Mackay said after the medal ceremony. “It’s my first time at the start line for a world championship event and to get a medal, I couldn’t be happier. I think it’s starting off the championships for the Canadian team well, so I hope that we can keep building on that for the next few days. Everyone is riding really well and poised to have some great results.
“The atmosphere in this velodrome is fantastic. Look at the stands. It’s wild. People are excited; people are invested in the racing. That is so motivating. All of my team pursuit teammates came to the final to watch and cheer me on. It’s such a great experience. Hopefully I can keep building on this.”
Foreman-Mackay is part of a huge group of athletes vying for a spot on the squad that will represent Canada in the team pursuit at the Olympics. “We’ve all been training and trying to figure out what the best lineup is,” she said. “We have seven riders: it is just so awesome to have so much depth to the program. There’s a big pool of us vying for selection and we’re all pushing each other every day. We won’t find out for a while, but we’ll keep working hard and work as a team.”
