October 8, 2010 (New Delhi, India) – We caught up with Canadian track coach Richard Wooles at the Commonwealth Games just before he boarded a plane to return home following the final day of competition on the track where Canada won two more bronze medals – four in total.

On the final day Zach Bell landed on the podium in the men’s Scratch Race while Tara Whitten claimed her third medal of the Games in the women’s Individual Pursuit – results and photos here. Wooles was happy with the team’s performance.

“I’m very pleased. We’ve come away with four medals and reached our goals to land on the podium,” said Wooles. “Tara and Zach rode well as did Monique [Sullivan] and Travis [Smith] who was hoping to do better – all in all it was a great team effort.” Given the stacked fields against them in some races Wooles commended the team. “We were out-numbered in several events like the Points and Scratch races but our riders persevered and for Zach and Tara to medal in those events was tremendous.”

Bell’s bronze medal in the Scratch race was redemption after finishing 15th in the men’s 40km Points race on Wednesday. Whitten’s win over New Zealand’s Jaime Nelson to claim the bronze in women’s 3,000-metre individual pursuit earned the Edmonton native a medal hat trick at the Games – watch the video of her bronze medal ride HERE.

“It was great to see how the riders inspired each other,” said Wooles, who added that the facilities at the Games were no problem despite all of the negative press, and the events were well run. “Both Zach and Tara are looking forward to upcoming road races – here’s hoping for more success.”

Following his 30-hour flight home Wooles will head down to LA in mid-October and continue the team’s preparation for the upcoming Track World Cup season aiming for more podiums and hardware.