April 13, 2018 (Gold Coast, Australia) – We caught up with Team Canada’s Haley Smith following her bronze medal ride in the 27.6 km women’s 6-lap cross-country MTB race at the Commonwealth Games for her take on winning bronze, her race, how she felt crossing the finishline, and her overall impressions of competing at her first major Games.
Haley Smith: It’s starting to sink in, but still feels pretty cool! And a bit like it happened to someone else.
Did you get a good start and did the race unfold as you expected ?
HS: I had a good first minute, but I had to dab on one of the first technical uphill sections and that set me back to either 7th or 8th. I didn’t know how the race would unfold, but felt like I’d mentally prepared for every eventuality… so I was able to roll with it and keep fighting my own fight.
What was your strategy and race plan ?
HS: My goal is always to get to the front, and that was no different yesterday. I believed I could race with those women so my strategy was to just breathe, believe it, and race my bike the best I could.
HS: The conditions were good. I didn’t notice the heat too much, both because of specific prep and the awesome work of our staff to have cooling methods dialled in for us. The dirt was good and grippy and there was minimal dust (which my lungs are thankful for!).
After that first dab, I was quite far back. I didn’t really process my position at the time, though. I knew the climbing would be the difference maker, because the descents were relatively smooth and untechnical. My race unfolded quite simply… it was really just about driving the climbs and pumping the descents, and I was able to reel in riders one by one on each lap. I made contact with bronze at the end of the fourth lap and was able to pull away on the fifth. I made a few mistakes on the final lap out of jitters and fatigue, but I focused on the basics and it got me across the line!
HS: It wasn’t too hard to pass. The climbs were fairly wide and there was much less traffic than I’m used to having to work through at world cups. I made contact with Em on the second half of the fourth lap and was able to pass on a double wide section.
Did you know you were in the bronze medal position ?
HS: Yes, I knew, but I also know from experience that a medal is not something I can think about during the race. I didn’t let myself feel it or even hope for it until the finish line was in sight.
HS: Honestly, just pretty overwhelming. Any international medal is a thing to be cherished and I feel so proud to have put together a strong race on the day. In the past, I have typically struggled with self belief, so I felt a lot of emotion about being able to overcome that and find confidence on race day.
HS: It was just such a cool experience! I loved being surrounded by other athletes and seeing all the different training and preparation routines. I found myself getting up early each morning to watch the Kenyan runners doing laps just after sunrise.
Being at a Games made me feel so proud to be Canadian, and there were a lot of things about this Games that were very special – for example, the fact that it was a gender-equal Games. I’ll definitely have to write a blog post to talk more about what the Games felt like!
HS: Just a sincere thank you to everyone who invests in us athletes and who has supported me both personally and through my team and federation.
Report / results here.