Women’s team pursuit squad reflects on their bronze medal performance

After four years of preparation and consistent riding at the top level of the sport, Canada’s women’s team pursuit squad stepped onto the third step of the podium having captured the bronze medal in their head-to-head match-up with New Zealand on Day 8 of the 2016 Rio Olympics. In London, Jasmin Glaesser was part of Canada’s bronze medal winning team and returned to the Olympics with the goal of getting back onto the podium.

“Four years ago, it was a little bit of a surprise, but this time around [a medal] was our goal and focus, and this is the result of four years of hard work,” said Glaesser. “To put it together on the day, when it matters, is an incredible feeling.”

The team qualified with the fourth-fastest time setting them up for a tough head-to-head race against Great Britain with the winner advancing to the gold medal race and the time determining the bronze medal match-up.

“We switched a few things up from the first day, but mostly we stuck to what we knew and I think that’s what got us faster,” said Montreal native Kirsti Lay. Canada were unable to match the world record pace of Great Britain but still set a new Canadian record and qualified for the bronze medal race. “We stayed with our game plan and went back to the basics. You tell yourself it’s another bike race, but there’s a lot more emotions on that start line. But we tried to stick to what we knew, and be calm and focus on the process, and then the outcome would be there.”

Georgia Simmerling was participating in her third Olympic games in her third discipline after coming to cycling as a skier. “We had to come together really quickly, and we did that. We rode faster every single ride, and put it all on the line,” said Simmerling who contributed to Canada’s bronze medal performance against New Zealand. “I’m so, so, so proud to be a part of this team and to finish that ride with the girls that I rode with. I never thought it was possible.”

MEDAL ALERT | #CAN wins #Bronze in women’s track cycling team pursuit #Rio2016 https://t.co/JAoL0ve2RK https://t.co/Zg81QC0t8M

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 13, 2016

As the event progressed, Canada improved with each ride. “We cleaned up technically and executed much better both in this morning and in the medal ride,” said 23-year-old Allison Beveridge. “We left it all out there and we have to be happy with what we did. We knew that it would be fast and that the world record was going to fall. It’s true what they say: the games atmosphere really brings out best of people and everything comes together.”

Canada leave Rio with a bronze medal after setting a new Canadian record with a time of 4:14.627 against New Zealand but Glaesser says she doesn’t expect that record will stand for very long. “This isn’t that fastest track out there, but this is the highest level of competition since this event changed from three riders to four after London. I think that trend is just going to continue through the next four years; the depth in the sport is really growing, and you can see that with the riders we’ve been able to ride in the last couple of years. I fully expect that the time is going to keep dropping, and it’s great to be at a race like this when everyone brings their A game.”