Canadian athletes take their nation’s medal count to five at the 2017 world para-cycling track championships in Los Angeles
Wilson, Chernove and Molnar continue to turn heads after just two days of international competition.
For the second time in as many days, Canadian athletes have claimed top honours at the 2017 para-cycling track world championships in Los Angeles, with B.C.’s Tristen Chernove and Alberta’s Ross Wilson each taking their second titles of the competition. Maurie-Claude Molnar, meanwhile, took silver.
Friday’s action earned Canada five medals in all, and in just two days of competition.
Wilson started off strong in the C1 men’s 3,000-metre individual pursuit, clocking a personal best in qualifying time. Later, in the gold medal final, he turned that personal best into a powerful, jaw-dropping win, catching his opponent at the line to take the world title in that event. “In the qualifying race,” said head coach Sebastian Travers, “Ross executed perfectly and surprised us with another personal best.”
Regarding the finals, Travers said, “we opted for an aggressive pace, which paid off as Ross lapped his opponent, therefore securing the rainbow jersey.”
The C2 men’s 3,000-metre individual pursuit, on the other hand, started out in a way that gave both spectators and Tristen Chernove himself a startle, when the Cranbrook, B.C.-bred rider inadvertently unclipped from his pedals at the outset. Nevertheless, Chernove rebounded to take the final with a track-blazing time of three minutes and 47.424 seconds — a comfortable seven-second margin ahead of his closest competitor, Aaron Keith of the United States.
“For Tristen,” Travers said, “his qualifier was a race against adversity. After unclipping at the start, Tristen kept going and was en route for a personal best. Going against Mauricio Eckard of Spain, Tristen went for the pass, but the Spaniard sped up, forcing Tristen to stay high for four laps, therefore doing a longer distance.”
“Tristen still managed to get the best time, which was the objective,” Travers noted. “He came back ready for the finals and executed well to secure the title.”
Molnar’s silver-medal finish put her in second, but not without turning in a powerful ride of her own. In the C4 women’s 500-metre team time trial, the Quebec-based athlete clocked a finishing time of 42.606 seconds, a result that put her barely a second behind her American opponent, Shawn Morelli. Travers, noting the little time that Molnar had to prepare for the event, called the results “exciting.”
“”Overall,” Travers said, “another good day for the nation. Two golds and one silver is pretty awesome. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s events, where Marie-Claude will race the pursuit and scratch race.”
