Amélie Kretz was competing in her second competition of the season on Sunday at the Sprint World Cup in Bergen, Norway. Despite an unfavorable starting position, the Quebecer managed to hold her own to finish the day in eighth place.
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“It’s a great progression, even since the Commonwealth Games. I am really satisfied with this result, I know there is still room for improvement. I see a few things I’d like to work on, but we’re definitely going in the right direction,” Kretz said in an interview with Sportcom.
Amélie Kretz knew that the swimming portion would be the most difficult and she wanted to take advantage of the first transition to improve her position in the final standings. A strategy that ultimately paid off for the Canadian.
“As my world ranking is not very high, I did not have a good starting position. I was still on the safe side, but the water was extremely cold, it really wasn’t easy. I knew swimming wasn’t going to make the difference, I had to capitalize on the transition and on the first lap of the bike. »
“The bike course was quite technical, I had a little difficulty positioning myself in the leading group, but I found myself at the front at the end of the course. Everything went well on the run to end the day,” added Kretz.
After several months out due to injury, Kretz returned to competition in Birmingham, England for the Commonwealth Games. She then took advantage of a month of effective preparation to be ready for Bergen this weekend.
“After the Games, I went home for three and a half weeks of training. I took the opportunity to work on my running to find a better level. It’s been positive and I look forward to continuing this momentum, ”she concluded.
The event was finally won by the Swedish Tilda Mansson who won in the sprint ahead of the Belgian Jolien Vermeylen (+1 second). Briton Kate Waugh (+6 seconds) completed the podium.
On the men’s side, Charles Paquet finished in 38e up (+3 minutes 2 seconds). He was the second Canadian to cross the finish line behind Martin Sobey (35e+2 minutes 41 seconds).
Frenchman Dorian Coninx won the men’s gold medal, crossing the finish line one second ahead of Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt. Thorn Vetle Bergsvik, also from Norway, was third (+5 seconds).