The Para-Cycling Track World Championships returned to the city of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil from March 20-24, 2024, where Canadian Para-cyclists shone bright and mighty, racking up a total of four medals, with one of its standout performers being Mel Pemble from Victoria, BC.
The 23-year-old clinched Canada’s first medal with a silver in an extremely competitive Women’s C3 500m Time Trial on the first day of competition where she finished in 39.573s, a mere 0.093s behind the gold medal winner, Xiaomei Wang, of China. Aniek Van Den Aarsen, of the Netherlands took the bronze medal.
On that same day, Tokyo 2020 Paralympic medallists Kate O’Brien, of Calgary, AB, and Keely Shaw, Midale, SK, were also in action in the women’s C4 category. They finished fifth and ninth in the 500m time trial.
On Friday, March 22nd, Shaw, won the bronze medal in the Women’s C4 Individual Pursuit. After qualifying in fourth position, she scored a time of 3:54.093 in the bronze medal final against Anna Grace Taylor (4:00.732) of New Zealand. The gold medal was awarded to Emily Petricola of Australia, who scored a time of 3:46.317 in her heat against Samantha Bosco (USA) who finished with a time difference of 7.690s. That same day, Alex Hayward of Quispamsis, NB, finished fifth in the men’s C3 individual pursuit, just short of qualifying for the bronze final.
Looking to add a third omnium title to her collection, Pemble ended up taking the bronze medal on March 23, where she went on to score another second position in the 200m flying sprint, before finishing fifth in the individual pursuit and sixth in the scratch race. Pemble accumulated a total of 138 points, while the gold medal went to Xiaomei Wang of China (160 points) and the silver to Aniek Van den Aarssen of the Netherlands (146 points).
Surprising the field on the last day of competition, Hayward, of Quispamsis, NB, won a silver medal in the Men C3 scratch race Hayward crossed the line alongside Jaco Van Gass of Great-Britain and Masaki Fujita, of Japan, who respectively won gold and bronze.
“All in all, these are great performances from our athletes,” commented National Team Coach Sébastien Travers. “We are accumulating a lot of key learning as well as a better understanding of the priorities ahead in preparation for the Paralympic Games. I’m very proud of our team and grateful to the staff members who have contributed to the athletes’ success.”
Team Canada:
Alex Hayward (Men C3)
Silver (Scratch Race), 5th (Individual Pursuit), 7th (Omnium), 11th (Time Trial)
Kate O’Brien (Women C4)
5th (Time Trial), 11th (Omnium), 12th (Scratch Race), 14th (Individual Pursuit)
Mel Pemble (Women C3)
Silver (Time Trial), Bronze (Omnium), 5th (Individual Pursuit), 6th (Scratch Race)
Keely Shaw (Women C4)
Bronze (Individual Pursuit), 9th (Time Trial), 10th (Omnium), 13th (Scratch Race)
Lowell Taylor/Ed Veal (Men B)
10th (Individual Pursuit), 14th (Sprint), 16th (Time Trial)
Full results from the 2024 Para-Cycling Track World Championships can be found here.
Source: Cycling Canada