Anne-Julie Tremblay sweeps women’s mountain biking at Canada Games
Three gold medals for Quebec-native, B.C.'s Rhys Verner takes second gold medal in Winnipeg
The Canada Games are one of the biggest stages for under-23 athletes in Canada. It’s the competitions to watch for the next generation of promising young athletes. After the mountain bike events wrapped up on Thursday, one athlete really stood out. Quebec’s Anne-Julie Tremblay sweep the three mountain bike competitions she competed in. Tremblay won the cross country mountain biking race, her Team Quebec won in the team relay and she sealed the sweep in the sprint elimination competition.
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Tremblay won the first gold medal of the 2017 Canada Games on Sunday winning the cross-country race. She was then part of Quebec’s winning team in the team relay on Tuesday and set herself up for her third gold medal with wins in the quarter final and semi final of the sprint elimination competition. Tremblay raced the final against Mackenzie Myatt of Nova Scotia and U23 Canadian champion Jenn Jackson of Ontario. Tremblay managed to hold of Myatt by one second with Jackson finishing in third. Myatt’s silver was the first mountain bike medal for Nova Scotia.
“I think this was more stressful than the cross-country because you are always racing and there is no rest,” said Tremblay about her third victory. “But it’s really fun because it is full gas the whole race. It is not my first time racing this, because I won the Canadian championship last year.”
The men’s race, Rhys Verner of British Columbia won his second gold medal having earned gold in the team race. He paces easily through the quarter and semi-final rounds to make the medal race. To take his second gold of the games, Verner faced off against Alberta’s Isaac Niles and cross-country gold medalist Felix Burke. Niles finished a second back on the British Columbian with Burke in third.
“I’ve done a few sprints before,” Verner explained about his experience in the sprint. “Three times at national championships and this is my second one at Canada Games. At nationals I’ve taken gold, silver and bronze, and today I had big goals, so I’m glad to pull it off. I like the sprint events; it’s fun for spectators and it’s all out from the gun. It’s full on racing.”
With the conclusion of the mountain biking events, Cycling Canada performance development director praised the organization at the Canada Games, “We are extremely happy with the execution of the mountain bike events. The team here really stepped up and help us to deliver three days of great racing. Teams are happy with the courses and the services that were provided, and we had awesome performances from all the provinces,” he said. “We now want to make sure that this mountain bike venue will be a legacy for years to come for the Manitoba Cycling Association, so that we can help them build quality programs here.”
