Strong finishes boost Team Canada’s medal count at the 2015 UCI track Pan-American championships

At the UCI track Pan-American championships, currently underway in Santiago, Chile, Canada’s Sean MacKinnon helped raise his team’s already commanding medal count from eight to ten, earning his third medal in as many days. In the points race, the young Ontarian took silver — a fitting way for MacKinnon to cap off his run in Santiago, being his last event.

“Tonight was yet another bonus down here at the Pan-American track championships,” MacKinnon said after his medal-winning ride. “After our success in the team pursuit, [and] then again in the individual pursuit, I am so pleased to finish off the racing on a high note.” It’s the third second-place finish for MacKinnon through the course of the championships, with his first being in Wednesday’s team pursuit, followed by another silver win in the individual pursuit on Thursday.

His win, MacKinnon said, was a team affair.

“Tonight’s point race was very tactical and a tight race until the end,” he said. “I could not have had the success I had without my teammate Aidan Caves, who helped me the whole way through keeping me in the right spot until the end.” Caves, too, took silver during the men’s scratch event the previous day, after another successful joint effort alongside teammate Evan Burtnik.

Such an amazing trip down in Chile! 3 silvers thank you @IanMelvin78 and @CyclingCanada for making this possible #NextGenU23

— Sean Mackinnon (@smackinn) September 4, 2015

In the 3,000 metre individual pursuit, Annie Foreman-Mackey took third place in qualification with a time of 3:36.28 — a personal best for the Canuck track rider — with Kirsti Lay, also of Team Canada, clocking a time of 3:39.14. The result was a medal race pitting Canadian against Canadian, one in which Foreman-Mackey, with a time of 3:36.742, prevailed over Lay to take the bronze. Gold in the event went to Jennifer Valente of the United States, who seared across the finish with a breakneck time of 3:28.947.

It wasn’t enough to send a Canadian rider into contention for top honours in the event, of course. But after such a performance, one that set the bar for herself even higher, Foreman-Mackey was thrilled.

“I’m really excited to have had a solid ride in the individual pursuit today,” she said. “With a new personal best time and room for improvement, I can take a lot from my rides. Though we unfortunately fell short of qualifying a Canadian to take the gold medal final, it was fun to race with my teammate in the bronze medal final.”

For the most part, Craig Griffin, Team Canada’s coach, was pleased with the day’s results on the Chilean track. Still, echoing what Foreman-Mackey said, he could see room for improvement. “Overall a solid day for Team Canada,” he said. “I’m encouraged by the progress of both Annie and Kirsti in this discipline, but they still need to improve in a few specific areas to get down to world class times. However, these non-Olympic Pan American championship events, which are not a focus for our group, are a great opportunity for experience and learning.”

Sprint competition qualifying, meanwhile, saw Canadian talent record the two fastest times of the day. Kate O’Brien took top standings with a time of 11.060 seconds; Monique Sullivan also advanced to the semi-finals with a time of 11.120 seconds. With such times, the two Canadians could conceivably face one another in the gold medal race, too. And in the omnium, Remi Pelletier-Roy finished three of six races on Friday, earning sixth in the scratch, second in the individual pursuit, and eighth in elimination.