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Bad luck for Canada in Olympic MTB – photos

Pendrel 9th and Batty 24th with a broken collarbone

Bad luck struck Canada’s Catharine Pendrel and Emily Batty in women’s mountain biking at the London Olympic Games. The duo, who were promising medal contenders, were left with a disappointing 9th and 24th place respectively.

“Not the race I dreamed of, but so proud to be a Canadian and an Olympian,” tweeted Pendrel after the race. “Thank you everyone. You, not medals make the Olympics special!”

Pendrel, the current world champion, and Batty, who placed second in the opening world-cup this year, lined up along side the best mountain bikers in the world. The race included a short start lap followed by six laps of a 4.7 km course.

Batty broke her collarbone and ribs in a crash while training just days before her debut at the Olympic Games. She decided to race after consulting with several doctors and medical staff. She finished in 24th place.

Pendrel had her eye on the gold medal but after a bad start she was forced to play catch up to the lead group during the first lap and a half. The front riders included 2004 Athens gold medallist Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa from Norway, 2008 Beijing gold medallist Sabine Spitz from Germany, Julie Bresset from France, Georgia Gould from the U.S. Annie Last from Great Britain, Esther Suss from Sweden and Irina Kalentieva from Russia.

During the second lap Pendrel looked to be back in contention for the top spot on the podium racing in second and third position. But she wasn’t able to hang on as the pace got faster.

Bresset proved to be the strongest rider in the race, setting the pace during the final laps and opening up a large gap to her nearest competitors, Gould and Spitz. Spitz crashed on the rocky descent and slowed down Gould, who was caught behind her. This allowed Bresset to further increase her lead by nearly one minute before crossing the finish line and winning the gold medal.

Gould and Spitz passed one another several times, both in pursuit of the silver medal. In the end it was Spitz who pushed ahead by eight seconds ahead of bronze medallist Gould.

Photos by Casey Gibson:  cbgphoto.com

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