Sullivan, Roorda, Pelletier-Roy add to Canada’s medal haul at the UCI track Pan-American championships

First it was a streak of eight medals for Canada, then on Friday, another two brought that number up to ten. On Saturday, three more medals were added to that count after another strong, podium-winning performance at the UCI track Pan-American championships by Canadian riders.

Canada took two gold medals in Santiago, after Alberta’s Monique Sullivan dominated the women’s sprint and Stephanie Roorda, also from Alberta, claimed victory in the points race.

For Sullivan, Saturday’s gold is 2015’s second such win in the same event, the first being at the women’s sprint of the Toronto Pan Am Games back in July. Leaving it all on the track, Sullivan won both the semi-final and final rounds, a tidy set of gold medal-earning wins that reflect her growing reputation as one of the top sprinters in North America.

Teammate Kate O’Brien, meanwhile, took fourth in the same competition.

Steph Roorda’s gold came in the women’s 20-km points race, a win she pulled off with support from teammate Kirsti Lay. Roorda, whose season has included dual wins in Europe last month, racked up 43 points in total after the race, besting Kimberly Giest of the United States with 38.

2015 Pan American Points Race Champion! I promise I could have only done this with the team we have. Thank you… https://t.co/Bpfz46Dbmk

— steph roorda (@stephroorda) September 6, 2015

Allison Beveridge’s ride in the women’s Omnium, meanwhile, was a further testament to the bar-raising edge of Canada’s track athletes in Santiago. In the scratch race — a tough, tactical 10km competition — the Calgary-based athlete placed sixth, before moving on to ride against Sara Hammer in the 3,000 metre pursuit. In that race, Beveridge clocked a personal best time of 3:39.7, moving her into third. The elimination, finally, found her holding off Mexico’s and Venezuela’s aggressive attacks to finish in second place of that competition. She heads into Sunday’s competition in Santiago third in overall standings, well-positioned to take on the final three events of the championships.

Remi Pelletier-Roy rounded out Canada’s triple-meda day with his bronze in the men’s omnium, after a performance that elevated him from Friday’s eighth place standing to third. In the points race — sitting at fourth overall — Pelletier-Roy poured it on to take multiple sprints, locking up the medal for the Quebec rider.

At the UCI track Pan-American championships — an important quaifier for Rio in 2016 — Canada now boasts thirteen medals in total.