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Monique Sullivan wins gold in women’s keiren at 2015 Pan Am Games

keirin Monique Sullivan

Monique Sullivan continued her gold-winning ways on the second day of track competition at the 2015 Pan Am Games. She took the women’s keirin Friday evening after she won the qualifier in that event earlier in the day.

Even though Sullivan won gold with her teammate Kate O’Brien in the team sprint the day before, Sullivan couldn’t rest on her laurels. She’s used to riding back to back events. “It’s business as usual for us. We always have a few days of racing in a row. Yesterday, Kate [O’Brien] and I really enjoyed the [team sprint] win. Now, I’ve refocused.”

The keirin field featured only one rider per country. Sullivan herself is a fan of the event. “I like the unpredictability of keirin. There are so many variables. Honestly, I get more nervous [than with sprints] because you don’t know what is going to happen. Once you are in the race it’s fun, again, because you don’t know what’s going to happen. You have different plans of what you want to do and it plays out how it will.”

For the first race, everything went to plan. Still, Sullivan had to ride carefully. She stayed just behind the derny driver for safety. He the motorized bike pulled off, Sullivan was still in front. And she stayed there, almost a replacement derny for the four riders behind. “To be No. 1 is the best when the derny is there,” Sullivan said. “When it pulls off, you are in the wind so you have to be careful to save your bullets. I was lucky. There was a rush from the back but I was able to keep her up high, so she got hung up on the banking. Then it just worked out perfectly.”

For the final, Sullivan was back out front. “I just happened to draw No. 1. Lisandra [Guerra of Cuba] drew No. 2. She was my biggest threat. I just had to be careful to save some bullets,” Sullivan said. The way she raced, it didn’t seem as if she was saving anything. “I just tried to keep her on my hip. She was really gaining on me on the back straight. At the corner, I had the advantage with the inside line. And, I don’t know, I don’t know what got me to the finish. She was coming so fast.”

Sullivan won with less than half a wheel.

Then, she was lost for words.

“To win again at home…You know, people do these interviews and they always say the same things. It’s because there are so many feelings. How do you put it into words?”

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