Track Cycling | A team event far from unanimous

(Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France) Asked what she thought of the new women’s team sprint event, presented at the Olympic Games for the first time on Monday evening, Lauriane Genest was straightforward: “It’s not ideal.”

Her result probably didn’t help the cause. She, Kelsey Mitchell and Sarah Orban finished the day in eighth and last place. The Canadians fell to last place in qualifying and were never able to improve their ranking in their duels against Great Britain, the eventual champions, and Poland.

“It’s hard, it’s a big effort,” sighed Genest, water bottle in hand, “but the day is over, I’m happy.”

More cheerful than her teammate, Kelsey Mitchell saw things differently. “It was cool to start like that. Obviously, we would have liked a better result, but I’m focusing on my sprint. I’m going to try to breathe, drink water and think about what’s coming.”

Even though the representatives of the maple leaf were never in the running, they still achieved their personal best time on their second lap on the track when they stopped the clock at 46.816 seconds.

The team’s coach, Franck Durivaux, however, found it necessary to put this performance into perspective. “The girls pushed as hard as they could almost all the time. The level is enormous. We qualified at the last moment, at the last competition, you have to know that.”

Mitchell and Genest, inseparable friends in everyday life, are among the best cyclists in the world in their respective events, but in this team program, they have never managed to make the pieces stick.

“It’s not that it’s a little less sticky,” the coach said. “They dominate in the individual events, we pushed the team speed to the limit to qualify, it worked, but afterwards, there’s always that fiber for the individual events that is in them.”

An adaptation

Previously, two cyclists took part in the women’s team sprint event. There are now three.

In April 2018, the specialist site Inside the Games had revealed that the president of the International Cycling Union (UCI), David Lappartient, was looking to integrate a women’s team sprint of three for the Paris Games.

His desire was to achieve parity, even if it meant sacrificing men’s events.

Six years later, 24 female sprinters from 8 countries took part in this new competition tailor-made for the Games. Parity was also officially achieved.

“I wasn’t too happy when they announced the news for the girls, but it’s for gender equality,” Genest commented, questioning the race’s place in the calendar.

“It wasn’t prioritized as an event in preparation for the Games. It’s really an atypical effort,” she explained to justify this first result in the magnificent Olympic velodrome.

For Mitchell, “the team dynamic needs to be better. We need to focus on these kinds of events and not just on individual events.”

Between now and the next Games in Los Angeles, “there are a lot of things to work on,” she believes.

Record after record

Before the evening began, the world record belonged to the Chinese, at 45.487 seconds. A time set in June. However, the record was quickly broken by the British, in the qualifying round. They had completed the three laps of the track in 45.472 seconds. On four other occasions during the evening, the house announcer pronounced the words “world record”, twice after the performance of the untouchable British, in fact.

“It’s amazing to see the girls go so fast,” said Mitchell, still sitting on the seat of her bike and looking up at the big screen. “I think I’m more excited to watch the other races than to race myself.”

Canadian ambitions

As in Tokyo three years ago, the Canadian track cycling team’s medal hopes rest on Genest and Mitchell.

At the last Games, Genest won bronze in the keirin. Mitchell, for her part, became the second Canadian woman to be crowned Olympic champion in the individual sprint event.

But coming out of that epic, the Canadian women have struggled to fully ride the Olympic wave. Genest has found herself on the podium four times, including two third-place finishes this year. For her part, Mitchell has not won a race since May 2022 in the World Cup and World Championships.

Nevertheless, the two athletes who train on the track in Milton, Ontario, brought back results significant enough to maintain their place among the best in their discipline. The Canadians are neck and neck in the world rankings. Genest, eighth, is one spot ahead of Mitchell.

This eighth-place finish to start their Games will not dampen their enthusiasm, they vowed. “It doesn’t change anything,” Mitchell proclaimed. While Genest insisted that the team race should not be relied upon, because “it’s completely different from what we’re going for.” [elle s’est] trained”.

With this event now behind them, the Canadians will return to service this week. Lauriane Genest will finally be able to move on: “Tomorrow, rest day. My favorite events are coming up.”