Women’s team pursuit rides to a world champs silver
Canada rides to a silver medal in women’s team pursuit at the World Track Cycling Championships in London, Friday March 4, 2016. (Tim Ireland)
Allison Beveridge, Jasmin Glaesser, Kirsti Lay and Georgia Simmerling won silver for Canada in women’s team pursuit at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London, England on Friday.
It was an an exciting two days for the women’s team pursuit squad, who advanced out of the qualifying round on Thursday in second place behind the United States. The Canadians went head to head with New Zealand, eager to secure their spot in the final. After a close battle in the first round, Canada edged out New Zealand’s team of Lauren Ellis, Rushlee Buchanan, Jamie Nielsen and Racquel Sheath by 0.003 of a second.
Related: World Track Cycling recap: Day two
In the final it was a battle of the Americas as Canada and the United States finally went head to head. The Canadians had a strong performance, almost two seconds faster than first round performance, but in the end it was the United State’s squad of Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente who were victorious, winning in four minutes 16.802 seconds.
Great Britain won the bronze medal race against New Zealand in a time of 4:16.540.
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Canada’s women’s team pursuit has been one to watch on the international circuit since the event made its Olympic debut at London 2012 where Canada captured bronze. The nation has also made the podium at every world championship since 2012, previously winning one silver and three bronze medals. The Canadians won gold in women’s team pursuit at the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Related: Canada wins team pursuit overall World Cup title
Rio 2016 will be the event’s second Olympic Games, but its first as a four-person competition. When the women’s event was introduced at London 2012, it was contested by teams of three over 3000m. It has since become a four-rider race over 4000m to match the men’s event. Canada is on track to qualify for Rio 2016 in women’s team pursuit, based on their position in the world rankings. With the most recent silver medal, the team will be ones to watch and strong contenders for the Olympic podium this summer.
