Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell and Lauriane Genest win their keirin qualifying heats at Tokyo 2021
Both advance to Thursday's quarterfinals
On the third day of Tokyo Olympic Games track cycling, Kelsey Mitchell and Lauriane Genest won their keirin qualifying heats to advance directly to Thursday’s quarterfinals.
All gas and no brakes for @_kmmitchell & Lauriane Genest!
After more than 1⃣ year without racing, the two ??s finished first in their Keirin heats and move on to the 1/4 finals tomorrow ? pic.twitter.com/DgwrYfDAAt
— Cycling Canada (@CyclingCanada) August 4, 2021
Except for the first one, the qualifying heats involved six riders following the ebike derny for three laps before it peeled off and the athletes could spar over three laps. The top two riders of each heat would go through to the quarterfinals. Mitchell was in Heat 3 and Genest, fifth overall in the 2019-2020 World Cup keirin standings, was in Heat 5.
In Heat 3 Mitchell took the lead on Lap 2 and wouldn’t be passed. Heat 5 saw Genest at the back of the line when the derny swung off, but she forced her way to the front on Lap 2 and clung to her lead. No repechage for the Canadians.
