Canadian track coach upbeat about worlds

With the final track World Cup of the season wrapping up last weekend – and with Canadians Tara Whitten and Zach Bell winning an unprecedented two World Cup titles in the women’s and men’s omnium – national track coach Richard Wooles is now looking ahead to the world championships in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, from March 23 to 27.

This track season and the next are key to Olympic qualification, and the team is in good standing – especially considering the changes to the Olympic format. Instead of seven men’s and three women’s medal events, there are now five for each gender. The men’s and women’s individual pursuit and points race and the men’s Madison have been eliminated in favour of the omnium, and there is now a keirin, team sprint and team pursuit for the women.

Wooles took the time this week to answer a few questions about the Canadian team.

Q. What’s your assessment of how the team fared so far this season and did it meet your expectations?

A. Yes! And a little bit better than planned.

Q. Despite skipping the final event, Tara Whitten and Zach Bell finished atop the women’s and men’s omnium World Cup standings. What are your expectations for the world championships?

A. We hope if all goes to plan top 3’s for both.

Q. The omnium is a new Olympic medal event. How much do you expect the competition level to go up in the pre-Olympic year, and what do you expect of our athletes?

A. The level has really gone up this track year with it being the only other endurance event [besides the team pursuit] at the games for all the countries to go for. Zach and Tara are right in the mix as both have great sprint and endurance profiles.

Q. How has the the elimination of the Madison, points race and individual pursuit in exchange for the omnium changed the dynamic of the qualification process?

A. It works well for us, but not so good for countries that have bigger teams and were looking at London for these events.

Q. Tanya Dubnicoff was recently signed as the women’s team pursuit coach — even though her background is as a sprint athlete. How do you expect her to contribute to the program?

A. She is a good coach and is really helping the team move forward.

Q. Travis Smith and the men’s team sprint squad put in some solid rides this season, but in the pre-Olympic year you’re going to have to make some tough decisions on where to allocate resources. Will Canada make a run at qualifying in the men’s sprint disciplines? And how is Monique Sullivan shaping up as an Olympic contender?

A. This is the year to get points for the games and we are looking good so far.