August 13, 2016 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – The Canadian Women’s Team Pursuit squad including Jasmine Glaesser, Kirsti Lay, Allison Beveridge and Georgia Simmerling will race for bronze later today (4:07pm EST) against New Zealand following the First Round competitions this morning. The team’s time of 4:15.636 set a new Canadian record (previously 4:17.799). The US also set a World Record in their heat and then Great Britain beat it when racing against Canada, as the two world record teams will face off in the gold medal match.

Monique Sullivan and Kate O’Brien raced in the Women’s Keirin but did not advance past the First Round Repechage. Sullivan finished 6th in her first heat and then 5th in her Repechage while O’Brien was 6th in her First Round heat but came up just short in her Repechage finishing second as only the winners advance to the Second Round.

Sullivan’s first round heat was the toughest as she faced multiple world and Olympic champions while O’Brien was also challenged in hers. “The first ride I wasn’t super happy with,” admitted O’Brien. “I kind of got into a situation where I had no idea what I was doing.

“But the second ride I went out and executed the way I wanted to; I rode from the front. I was a bit delayed when the Russian [Anastasiia Voinova] jumped, and after that she just out rode me. The Keirin is still a bit daunting to me, to be honest, but I just rode the best that I could, and unfortunately I didn’t come out on top.”

O’Brien is looking forward more to the Sprint competition, where she was sixth at the world championships earlier in the season. “The Sprint went well for me at Worlds, and I have some confidence there. So, hopefully, I can try to recreate my Worlds rides. I’ll try and qualify the best I can, and race how I want to race, and we’ll see how that stacks me up.”

Sullivan, who was sixth in the Keirin at the London Olympics, and fourth at this year’s world championships, was disappointed with her performance. “I really wish I could have done better. The team has been so good all year, and we all wanted to do more and show the work we’ve been doing. But it wasn’t enough today.”

“I saw my first heat this morning, and I went ‘Oh my God’. It was a mental battle, and I really fought to get into the headspace where I could fight for the win or second [to move on to the next round]. The race started out okay, and I was in position to get on the rush that I knew was coming, but it just wasn’t enough. In the second ride, I tried to avoid getting boxed in, but I just couldn’t get around the other riders to the front.”

“We’ve got 24 hours to recover and refocus for the Sprint, and that’s enough. Kate and I will be gunning to have the best times that we can in qualifying, and hopefully make it up to the team tomorrow.”

Results

Women’s Keirin

First Round

Heat 1
1. Kristina Vogel (Germany)
2. Anna Meares (Australia)
3. Martha Bayona Pineda (Colombia)
4. Anastasiia Voinova (Russia)
5. Jinjie Gong (China)
6. Monique Sullivan (Canada)

Heat 2
1. Wai Sze Lee (Hong Kong)
2. Tianshi Zhong (China)
3. Daria Shmeleva (Russia)
4. Laurine Van Riessen (Netherlands)
DNF Tania Calvo Barbero (Spain)
DNF Virginie Cueff (France)
DNF Olivia Podmore (New Zealand)

Heat 3
1. Rebecca James (Great Britain)
2. Hyejin Lee (Korea)
3. Natasha Hansen (New Zealand)
4. Helena Casas Roige (Spain)
5. Stephanie Morton (Australia)
6. Kate O’Brien (Canada)
7. Miriam Welte (Germany)

Heat 4
1. Elis Ligtlee (Netherlands)
2. Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)
3. Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez (Cuba)
4. Olga Ismayilova (Azerbaijan)
5. Shannon McCurley (Ireland)
6. Sandie Clair (France)
REL Liubov Basova (Ukraine)

Top two riders of each heat advance to the Second Round.
Rest to Repechages

First Round Repechages

Heat 1
1. Martha Bayona Pineda (Colombia)
2. Stephanie Morton (Australia)
3. Virginie Cueff (France)
4. Olga Ismayilova (Azerbaijan)

Heat 2
1. Liubov Basova (Ukraine)
2. Daria Shmeleva (Russia)
3. Helena Casas Roige (Spain)
4. Tania Calvo Barbero (Spain)
5. Monique Sullivan (Canada)

Heat 3
1. Laurine Van Riessen (Netherlands)
2. Natasha Hansen (New Zealand)
3. Jinjie Gong (China)
4. Sandie Clair (France)
5. Miriam Welte (Germany)

Heat 4
1. Anastasiia Voinova (Russia)
2. Kate O’Brien (Canada)
3. Lisandra Guerra Rodriguez (Cuba)
4. Shannon McCurley (Ireland)
5. Olivia Podmore (New Zealand)

Winner of each heat advances to the Second Round

Women’s Team Pursuit

First Round

Heat 1

1. People’s Republic of China 4:22.964
Dongyan Huang
Yali Jing
Menglu Ma
Baofang Zhao

2. Italy 4:23.678
Simona Frapporti
Tatiana Guderzo
Francesca Pattaro
Silvia Valsecchi

Heat 2

1. New Zealand 4:17.592
Lauren Ellis
Racquel SHeath
Rushlee Buchanan
Jaime Nielsen

DSQ Poland 4:27.299
Daria Pikulik
Edyta Jasinska
Justyna Kaczkowska
Natalia Rutkowska

Heat 3

1. United States of America 4:12.282
Sarah Hammer
Kelly Catlin
Chloe Dygert
Jennifer Valente

2. Australia 4:20.262
Georgia Baker
Annette Edmondson
Amy Cure
Melissa Hoskins

Heat 4

1. Great Britain 4:12.152 WR
Katie Archibald
Laura Trott
Elinor Barker
Joanna Rowsell-Shand

2. Canada 4:15.636
Allison Beveridge
Jasmin Glaesser
Kirsti Lay
Georgia Simmerling

The winners of heats 3 and 4 in the First round ride the final for the gold and silver medals.
The remaining six teams will be ranked by their times in the First round and will be paired as follows:
The two fastest teams ride the final for the bronze medal.
The next two fastest teams ride the final for 5th and 6th places.
The last two teams ride the final for 7th and 8th places.