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After claiming world championship bronze, Steph Roorda confident about Canada’s prospects in London

As happy as Steph Roorda was with her bronze medal performance in Thursday’s Scratch Race, it’s not hard to figure out that her real goal revolves around a win in Friday's team pursuit.

by Kevin Mackinnon

Photo credit: Kevin Mackinnon
Photo credit: Kevin Mackinnon

Stephanie Roorda made the move of the race to capture the bronze medal in the women’s Scratch Race at the track cycling world championship in London Thursday.

As happy as Steph Roorda was with her bronze medal performance in Thursday’s Scratch Race, it’s not hard to figure out that her real goal for this world championship experience in London revolves around a win in Friday’s team pursuit.

It was a valiant move by Roorda over the final few laps of the race that set up the sprint for the medals as the Canadian chased down the breakaway group and led the way for the final medal contenders. While the race favourites like Laura Trott (gold) and Kristen Wild (silver) waited for someone else to go, Roorda made the decisive move that decided the podium.

Photo credit: Kevin Mackinnon
Photo credit: Kevin Mackinnon

“It was that moment of when I saw the right move to make and I knew that some of the big names were behind me, so I thought that if I could close the gap and go over them and make the other riders go over them too it was going to be to my advantage to hold them off for as long as possible,” she said. “No one was really keen to make the final move to catch that group and there was a bit of hesitation, so that was the moment I saw to bridge to the group and go over them.”

While Roorda has won world championship medals before, this was her first in an individual event.

“I’m really happy to perform in an individual event,” she said, but quickly made it clear what her real focus is here in London – the Team Pursuit title. “We’re going for a gold medal.”

When asked if the Canadian squad had a shot at the world record in Friday’s race, Roorda was quick to answer—in the affirmative.

“With two teams on the track, yeah,” she said. “I feel totally focused for tomorrow. This feels really great and I’m ecstatic with the performance and the result, but everything is for tomorrow.”

Photo credit: Kevin Mackinnon
Photo credit: Kevin Mackinnon