Pan Am Games -Best ever for cycling

BEST GAMES EVER FOR CANADIAN CYCLISTS

Canada surpasses all-time medal haul at Major Games   (Toronto, ON – July 26, 2015) Cycling Canada and its Canadian cyclists completed its best Major Games ever at the Toronto 2015 Pan-American Games.   With a medal haul of 20 medals in all cycling disciplines, Canada has more than doubled the previous all-time high of nine medals earned at the 1999 Pan-American Games that took place in Winnipeg.   Jacques Landry, High Performance Director and Head Coach, was thrilled with the performance of Canadian cyclists at these major Games. “These Games have definitely been good ones for cycling, across all of our Olympic disciplines. We obviously came into these Games expecting to win gold medals in some of our marquis events. Our goal, however, remained to reach the podium in each event we entered in, and I believe we came very close to that goal.”   The Games will have a much bigger impact for Canadian cycling in the short, mid and long term. “The unmeasurable impact that these Games have had for Cycling Canada is the degree of awareness that has been acquired by the Canadian public with regards to our programs. It was so great to see the the country to rally behind our athletes in all cycling events, and we hope that this enthusiasm for our sport continues, sparking the interest of our Canadian youth to “Hop On” and become future champions of the road, the mountain bike trails, the dirt jumps or the boards.”    In BMX, Tory Nyhaug got the ball rolling for Canada with a gold medal, laying down the perfect day with wins in all motos, semi-finals and finals at the newly built BMX Track at Centennial Park.   Emily Batty and Raphael Gagné both won gold medals in Mountain Bike, while Catharine Pendrel took the silver medal only seconds behind Batty in what was a Canadian domination at Hardwood Ski and Bike.   The Track cycling events at the velodrome was all Canada, with gold medals in both Men and Women Team Sprints, followed by gold medals in the Men and Women Individual Sprint thanks to Hugo Barrette and Monique Sullivan. The Women’s team pursuit showed their domination in the Americas, easily riding to the gold medal against the United States of America. Sullivan added the gold medal in the women’s keirin, completed a hat trick in women’s sprint events.   Canada completed the track cycling portion of these Games with 10 medals with two silver and two bronze medals.   The road events started on Wednesday with the individual time trial, and pro rider Hugo Houle arrived at the start line in top form, averaging 400 watts of power over 45 minutes, his personal best, to capture the gold medal by 1:17 on the silver medallist. Sean MacKinnon added a surprising bronze medal standing beside Houle on the podium. Jasmin Glaesser, despite an unfortunate flat tire, earned the silver medal of the women’s race.   The road races were also a Canadian affair, with Jasmin Glaesser adding a gold medal to her collection in the women’s race, along with Allison Beveridge taking the bronze. Glaesser earned her fourth medal in as many races, putting her in the Top 3 of the entire Canadian delegation. Guillaume Boivin earned the bronze medal in a nail-biting sprint of three in the men’s road race.    MEDALLISTS – CYCLING AT TORONTO 2015 PAN-AMERICAN GAMES

  • Raphael Gagné – Gold – Men’s Cross-Country, Mountain Bike
  • Emily Batty – Gold – Women’s Cross-Country, Mountain Bike
  • Canada – Gold – Women’s Team Sprint, Track Cycling
  • Monique Sullivan – Gold – Women’s Keirin, Track Cycling
  • Monique Sullivan – Gold – Women’s Sprint, Track Cycling
  • Canada – Gold – Men’s Team Sprint, Track Cycling
  • Hugo Barrette – Gold – Men’s Sprint, Track Cycling
  • Canada – Gold – Women’s Team Pursuit, Track Cycling
  • Tory Nyhaug – Gold – Men’s BMX
  • Hugo Houle – Gold – Men’s Individual Time Trial, Road Cycling
  • Jasmin Glaesser – Gold – Women’s Road Race, Road Cycling
  • Jasmin Glaesser – Silver – Women’s Omnium, Track Cycling
  • Jasmin Glaesser – Silver – Women’s  Individual Time Trial, Road Cycling
  • Catharine Pendrel – Silver – Women’s Cross-Country, Mountain Bike
  • Kate O’Brien – Silver – Women’s Sprint, Track Cycling
  • Canada – Bronze – Men’s Team Pursuit, Track Cycling
  • Hugo Barrette – Bronze – Men’s Keirin, Track Cycling
  • Sean MacKinnon – Bronze – Men’s Individual Time Trial, Road Cycling
  • Allison Beveridge – Bronze – Women’s Road Race, Road Cycling
  • Guillaume Boivin – Bronze – Men’s Road Race, Road Cycling

Highlights – Toronto 2015 Pan-American Games:

  • Canada won gold medal in all disciplines: BMX, Mountain Bike, Track, Road.
  • Canada topped the medal standings in Mountain Bike, Track and Road cycling events.
  • 20 of 24 Canadian cyclists won at least one medal.
  • Jasmin Glaesser won four medals, including two gold, putting her Top 3 of ALL Canadian athletes of these 2015 Pan-American Games.
  • Raphael Gagné became the first man to win a Gold medal in the mountain bike event at Pan-American Games.
  • Tory Nyhaug became the first Canadian to win a medal in BMX at any Pan-American Games.
  • Hugo Barrette won the gold medal in the sprint event, becoming the first Canadian man to accomplish this feat at Pan-American Games since Gordon Singleton in 1979. Barrette also won the gold in the Men’s Team Sprint along with teammates Evan Carey and Joseph Veloce.
  • Monique Sullivan achieved the Triple Crown, winning the Women Team Sprint, Sprint and Keirin events.
  • Hugo Houle had the performance of his life winning the Individual Time Trial, winning the gold by more than 1:17 on the second place finisher.
  • Canada’s women’s Mountain Bikers finished 1-2, with Emily Batty taking the title only seconds in front of two-time World Champion Catharine Pendrel.
  • Monique Sullivan, Hugo Barrette and Jasmin Glaesser made history by winning at least three medals in one single Games. No Canadian cyclist had ever won three medals in one Major Games prior to today.

MEDAL STANDINGS – BMX 1. United States (1, 0, 1: Total 2) 2. Canada (1, 0, 0: Total 1) 3. Ecuador (0, 2, 0: Total 2)   MEDAL STANDINGS – MOUNTAIN BIKE 1. Canada (2, 1, 0: Total 3) 2. Argentina (0, 1, 0: Total 1) 3. United States (0, 0, 2: Total 2)   MEDAL STANDINGS – TRACK CYCLING 1. Canada (6, 2, 2: Total 10) 2. Colombia (3, 0, 3: Total 6) 3. United States (1, 1, 0: Total 2)   MEDAL STANDING – ROAD 1. Canada (2, 1, 3: Total 6) 2. United States (1, 1, 0: Total 2) 3. Venezuela (1, 0, 0: Total 1)