Lauriane Genest

Biography

Within just a couple of years of her introduction to track cycling, Genest had established herself as one of the top sprinters in the world. That was made evident with her bronze medal in the keirin during her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. She also finished eighth in the sprint during her first Olympic Games. After racing as a junior at the 2016 Canadian Championships, Genest won elite national titles in the 500m time trial and team sprint in 2017, while capturing silvers in the sprint and keirin. 

She joined the national team in 2018, which included a trip to her first international competition, the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. She finished fourth in the sprint but called racing in the finals at the Anna Meares Velodrome – named after her idol – the highlight of her short career at that point. In her return to the Commonwealth Games in 2022, Genest won silver in the team sprint alongside Kelsey Mitchell and Sarah Orban. She finished fifth in the sprint and seventh in the keirin. 

Genest has won nine medals, including four gold, at the Pan American Championships. In her debut in 2018, she won keirin silver and team sprint bronze. In 2019, she was victorious in the keirin and in the team sprint with Mitchell. In 2022, there was another gold in the team sprint, this time with Mitchell and Orban, along with a silver in the keirin. In 2023, Genest earned the gold medal in the sprint, as well as silver in the team sprint and keirin. 

Genest has competed at each UCI Track World Championships since her debut in 2019. She came closest to the podium in 2021 when she finished fourth in the sprint, losing out to Mitchell in the bronze medal final. 

Genest made her first appearance on the UCI World Cup/Nations Cup tour at the velodrome in Milton, Ontario in October 2018.  She claimed her first World Cup medal in the keirin, taking silver in Cambridge, New Zealand in December 2019.  A month later, she and Mitchell captured gold in the team sprint at the World Cup stop in Milton. She had a double silver performance in Milton in 2022, taking second spot in the sprint and team sprint.

A Little More About Lauriane

Getting into the Sport: Began road cycling at age 16 before switching to the track a year later where she loves the pure speed and power… Has dreamed of representing Canada in some sport since she was 5… Inspired by Australian Olympian Anna Meares, the most decorated female track cyclist of all time, who she met at the 2018 Commonwealth Games… Outside Interests: Supports Fast and Female… Enjoys camping, rock climbing, spending time at the beach, and road cycling in the offseason… Odds and Ends: Would like to one day receive a special invitation to race keirin professionally in Japan where spectators bet on the sport, similar to horse racing… Always wears a necklace given by her family so it feels like they are with her and protecting her… Favourite motto: Easy Peezy lemon squeezy…