Meet Canada’s Olympic mountain bike team
Three riders are headed to Tokyo to compete in the cross country event
Photo by:
Louis Garneau
Three Canadians are Tokyo-bound to represent Canada in mountain biking at the 2021 Olympic Games. Catharine Pendrel and Haley Smith will race the women’s event, while Peter Disera will represent Canada in the men’s event.
Catharine Pendrel (Kamloops, B.C.)
Catharine Pendrel leads Canada’s mountain bike team in what will be her fourth and, she has announced, last Olympic Games. Her selection continues a remarkable return to competition following the birth of her first child earlier this year. Pendrel’s daughter has travelled with her and her husband (and coach) Kieth Wilson during her return to World Cup racing in 2021.
Pendrel brings a wealth of experience to the team, and a long list of victories. The Kamloops, B.C.-based rider won a Bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That adds to her two elite women’s world championship titles and three World Cup overall titles.
PODCAST: Catharine Pendrel is awesome
Peter Disera (Horseshoe Valley, Ont.)
Canada’s single spot in the men’s cross country mountain bike race goes to Peter Disera. The multiple-time elite Canadian national champion will be competing in his first Olympic games in Tokyo. In addition to his national titles, Disera finished sixth at the 2019 Les Gets, France World Cup XCO.
Haley Smith, Uxbridge, Ont.
Haley Smith heads to Tokyo after her top-3 finish at the Nove Mesto World Cup in 2019, a result that makes the most recent Canadian to finish in the top-3 of an elite World Cup race. That podium kicked off a breakout season for Smith, who added two more top-10 World Cup finishes and a 12th at 2019 world championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que.
PODCAST: Haley Smith knows real toughness
The Olympic mountain bike events take place on July 26-27, 2021.
