Canada wins gold and silver medals at paracycling track worlds

Tristen Chernove of Cranbrook, B.C., is the new C2 men’s individual pursuit world champion. On the first day of the 2016 UCI paracycling track world championships in Montichiari, Italy, Canada earned two medals as Ross Wilson earned a silver medal in the C1 men’s individual pursuit.

Chernove was dominant in the C2 individual pursuit qualifying with a time almost five seconds faster than second-place rider Colin Lynch of Ireland. A protest was made between the qualifier and the gold-medal final to have Chernove reclassified to C3. The officials denied the protest and he went on to beat Lynch by more than nine seconds for the world title.

“The race was great,” said Chernove, who is the newest addition to the track team. “Obviously, anytime you accomplish what you were going for, it feels great. The whole day was fantastic. This was my first time competing at a world-level event, and it’s been a big day of learning. I’m just thankful to all the people who got me here, especially my family and colleagues. Without all those people behind me, I couldn’t have been here.”

Ross Wilson entered the event as the defending silver medalist from last year. He faced Zhangyu Li of China head to head in the C1 individual pursuit, the same rider who beat him for the world title. In the qualifying round, Li posted a time 2.618 seconds faster than Wilson. In the gold medal event, Wilson narrowed the time gap from last year, but was unable to beat Li. As Wilson builds up to the Paralymics, this improvement will be an encouraging sign.

“I think the qualifier went very well,” said Wilson. “I knew I was on really good form coming into this event; I’ve done a lot of work with my coach, Cam Jennings. Having the chance to work in the Milton velodrome has allowed us to move forward and really develop my track riding skills. I didn’t expect to be within striking distance of a world record. I think it shows that Cycling Canada has really elevated its game.”

In other action, Marie-Claude Molnar of Montreal finished eighth in the women’s C5 time trial, Michael Samets of Calgary finished eighth in the men’s C3 individual pursuit, and Jaye Milley of Calgary finished seventh in the men’s C1 individual pursuit.

The worlds are the final qualifying event for the Rio Paralympic Games.