Summary of Quebec performances at the Pan American Games in Santiago.
Road cycling
Cyclist Adèle Normand “played on the rubber band” for three laps of the Pan American Games road race, continually dropping and returning to the chasing group. She held on until the end and was the 13the to cross the finish line on Sunday.
The Canadian team was reduced to three runners after Alberta’s Ngaire Barraclough withdrew before the start of the event due to health issues.
Normand quickly took his place at the front of the peloton and kept an eye on the Cuban Arlenis Sierra, the American Kristen Faulkner and the Colombian Paula Patino, three favorites to win over the 105 kilometer course.
The Paraguayan Agua Marina Espinola and the Ecuadorian Miryam Maritza Nunez were the first to escape, “two girls who are good in time trials”, underlined Adèle Normand. Her father had questioned her before the event about which runners were going to escape and his prediction came true.
“I was in a lower position at the time, but I know both of them well and if I had been in a better position, I think I would have gone with them. I was right, but I didn’t play my cards well enough. »
Espinola was caught during the sixth and final round by the American Lauren Stephens, victorious alone. Nunez then beat Espinola in the sprint to obtain the silver medal.
Adèle Normand completed a group of nine runners, 2 minutes 33 seconds behind the winner.
“You had to be in the right place at the right time, but I’m happy with the way I ran. I have the level! I also notice that I have some things to work on, more technical and on teamwork, but we had fewer opportunities for that today [dimanche]. The form was there! »
Equestrian sports
Colleen Loach helped the Canadian team punch their ticket to the Paris Olympics.
The Quebecer joined forces with Lindsay Traisnel, Karl Slezak and Michael Winter to beat the Americans on Sunday, at the end of the aerials event.
Before this last discipline, the Canadians occupied provisional third place behind the United States and Brazil.
The representatives of the maple leaf, however, offered quite a performance in Santiago, taking third, fourth, fifth and sixth places. Overall, they posted a score of 115.6, followed very closely by the Americans and their 115.7 points.
The Brazilians completed the podium at 127.1 points.
Table tennis
Siméon Martin and Edward Ly started their doubles tournament on the right foot on Sunday. They recorded a 4-2 victory against Alejandro Toranzos Molinas and Marcelo Aguirre of Paraguay.
The Paraguayans won the first set 11-9, then the two Quebecers responded by running away with the next one at a score of 11-3.
Their opponents took the lead afterward, but Martin and Ly closed the books by winning the last three sets 12-10, 11-9 and 11-7.
In the quarterfinals, they faced Brazilians Hugo Marinho and Vitor Ishiy and lost 4-2, in sets of 11-6, 11-4, 4-11, 6-11, 11-4 and 11-4 .
They will play their first singles match on Monday.
Handball
Canadian handball players suffered a fourth defeat in Vina del Mar and will finish eighth in the final Pan American Games rankings.
The game was initially supposed to take place in the morning, but the schedule was disrupted following heavy precipitation during the night from Saturday to Sunday which damaged the gymnasium.
Opposed to the representatives of Uruguay, the Canadians lost 22-19 at the conclusion of the tournament. They led 11-10 at the half, but their opponents had the advantage when play resumed.
“We wanted to come out with at least one victory in our pocket. We wanted to finish strong. Despite everything, the score does not represent our performance, it is the best match we have played and we have something to be proud of,” shared captain Vassilia Gagnon after the match.
Author of 6 goals in the defeat, Emily Routhier was the most prolific scorer for the Canadian team led by coach Nathalie Brochu.
Nassima Benhacine and Laurie Lacasse scored four goals each, while Myriam Zimmer managed three. Myriam Laplante and Audrey Marcoux also found the back of the net.
“We put on quite a show for the crowd until the last second,” added Gagnon. We are more than a result, I think we can be very proud of ourselves for everything we have accomplished. »