July 14, 2007 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) — We spoke earlier tonight with a very ecstatic and elated Catharine Pendrel who won the gold medal today in the Elite Women’s MTB XC race at the 2007 Pan American Games in Outeiro Hill.

Pendrel, 26, from Kamloops, BC, also had the special honour of winning the first gold medal of the 2007 Pan Am Games and was the focus of the lot of attention as the Games have just begun and will run until July 29.

“We just finished some special ceremonies at the Games for the all medal winners and the Canadian team,” said Pendrel. “I didn’t realize that my gold medal win was the first of the Games so it was a real honour and even more special for me and Canada.”

We asked Pendrel to tell us about her race today. “It was a really good technical course and I felt great racing today,” she said. “We completed two start loops and then five laps of a 6km course. Mary McConneloug (USA) was leading on the first loop and I took over on the second, but she regained the lead as we began the first lap. I could see that she was making mistakes along the way and I thought that if could just ride clean and smooth I’d easily reel her in and take over the lead,” she explained.

“On the second lap I passed her and then she crashed in a corner. Soon after I attacked on a climb and she didn’t respond so I just kept going feeling strong and I knew that I just had to stay focused and keep my lead to the finish,” Pendrel commented. “I know some reports said I was trailing and then caught her near the end, but there must have been some translation problems. I was in the lead from the second lap until the finish.”

Pendrel has been having a great season with her career-best World Cup MTB 11th place result at Mont Ste-Anne, Que. on June 23. The following weekend at the World Cup MTB in St-Felicien, Que. on July 1 she was riding in 7th and on her way to bettering that performance when she lost a pedal. We asked her if her win at the Games was a form of vindication, and in a sense trading a pedal for a (gold) medal.

Pendrel (laughing), “Yes, today’s win was a form of vindication for my situation at St-Felicien. I was feeling good at that race as well but mechanicals are part of the equation that have to be dealt with. A pedal for a gold medal is a good swap,” she quipped. “Mechanicals are unpredictable and unfortunately ruled the day here for both Ricky Federau and Matt Toulouse in the men’s cross-country. Both suffered flats and then Ricky’s CO2 cartridge failed forcing him out of race. Matt fought back and would have podiumed for sure if there was one more lap (Toulouse finished 6th)”¦ but that’s racing.”

With the 2007 Canadian MTB Nationals taking place soon at Mt. Washington, B.C. from July 19-22, Pendrel, Federau and Toulouse will be on a plane Sunday evening returning home. We asked Pendrel if her win made a difference in her approach to the upcoming MTB Nationals.

“For sure it’s a confidence builder and a boost for me going into the MTB Nationals. The main thing for me now is to make sure I get back so I can rest and get focused on the event while at home so I’m ready to go when the time comes,” she said.

We wondered how the folks back home in Kamloops, BC were reacting to Pendrel’s performance and found out that she’s originally from Smithfield, New Brunswick where her proud parents live. Here’s what they had to say about Catharine’s win.

“We live in Smithfield, New Brunswick. Catharine moved out west and her new home of Kamloops has adopted her.

We are absolutely thrilled for her. Catharine has worked very hard to earn the privilege of representing Canada on the international scene and it was really important to her to perform well. She is incredibly disciplined in her training and it has paid off in spades.

She was so disappointed with her race at St-Felicien when a mechanical took her from seventh to 30th place. She knew she had the ability to get a top-ten finish and now she has the proof.

We think it is fabulous that a young girl from a small rural community in N.B. can work her way up from doing small local races to racing at the international level. That is one of the beautiful aspects of the sport of mountain biking.

We have spent the day fielding congratulatory calls from across Canada. We spoke with Keith (Catharine’s husband) several times, sharing our latest sightings of Catharine on the web. And then a friend showed up with strawberries and champagne. It’s been a marvelous day!”

Congratulations Catharine! Tomorrow the Time Trials take place at Flamengo Park so stay tuned for more coverage of the 2007 Pan Am Games at pedalmag.com.