January 04, 2015 (Milton, ON) – Here’s a selection of rider quotes and more photos following the historic Day 1 at the 2014 Canadian National Track Championships where the first medals were awarded at the spanking new Mattamy National Cycling Centre. The championships are an official test event for the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games taking place this July 10-26 and Aug 7-15 respectively.

Men’s Team Sprint: Khyl ORSER (CAN)
On his first race on the new Milton Velodrome and the quality of the track: “It was amazing. It rides very well. The transitions are nice, it has great traction. It went very well with my team. We jumped off to a very good start.”

Women’s Team Sprint – Kristen SEARS (CAN)
Her reaction to having the Velodrome located in her hometown and being the first racer in the facility: “It’s so nice to have a facility like this in our backyard. I didn’t exactly want to be first but its cool to say that we were the first people to ever race in the Milton Velodrome. Not a lot of people can say that.”

Men’s Team Pursuit – Qualification: Alexander CATAFORD (CAN)
On his first performance in the Velodrome, the new facility, riding on the track felt, and on his teammates and his first time competing with them: “It was very on schedule with where we thought we would be at so we rode what we expected.”

“I’ve been racing with the national team since I was a junior, since I was 16 years old. I raced in multiple tracks around the world and this one is up there with all the other ones. This facility is just as nice as all the other ones I’ve been to.”

“I just signed with the team this year. This is our first race under the colours together. It went very well for our first time together. I’m excited for our upcoming road season and track season. We are just getting started; 2015 just started.”

Women’s Team Pursuit – Qualification: Kinley GIBSON (CAN)
On what the facility in Milton means to cycling in Canada and on racing on the new track: “This is a world-class facility on home soil where we can host world-class events. It’s both a very great venue for people who are already riding and a really great venue for people just getting into the sport. This is very much a present for us and a future opportunity for everyone. Very cool to be part of this opening event. It’s gorgeous. It’s fast, so smooth. It’s a lot of fun out there.”

Women’s Team Sprint Final – Kate O’BRIEN (CAN) – Gold
On being the first athlete to win gold at the Canadian track cycling championship at the Milton Velodrome: “It’s always fun to win stuff at home. Anywhere in Canada you always feel a bit of a pull so it’s nice to have that happen here.”

Women’s Team Pursuit Finals – Kirsti LAY (CAN) – Bronze
On winning a medal with a new team: “We’re all on different road teams and track teams. We just came together for this event. We are still learning each others strengths and weaknesses for the first time today.”

Women’s Team Pursuit Finals – Jasmine GLAESSER (CAN) – Gold
On the importance of winning a gold medal in front of a home crowd and it being her first national championship: “It’s actually my first ever national championship so it’s pretty exciting that it would be here in the Milton Velodrome. When I’m in a nice velodrome, I’m used to it being abroad… so for me it’s a very special moment. It’s amazing to know I am actually in Canada in front of a home crowd.”

Men’s Team Pursuit – Benjamin PERRY (CAN) – Silver
On being fairly new to team pursuit but still managing to win a medal: “We made a lot of technical mistakes but we are very new to the team pursuit.” We started practicing yesterday (Friday) for it so we didn’t have a lot of expectations, but we were happy to make the finals. We were glad to put some pressure on the national team.”

Men’s Team Pursuit Finals – Simon FOTHERGILL (CAN) – Bronze
On what it means to win bronze in Milton: “We have all been racing together for a pretty long time. This is our first year in the Elite ranks so we started off with a pretty good result and I think all the guys are really happy with that, too.”

Men’s Team Pursuit Finals – Sean MACKINNON (CAN) – Gold
On his improvement after his first run, on what helped him win, his teammates and his experience competing with them and on being in a national event in Milton: “It was just I did not have one of my best first rides so now I am in better spirits after this last run. It was much more like myself. After the first one, I figured out stuff with my bike and my legs and I got back into it so I’m super excited about that.”

“I think it was the team. We have been working together coming up on one year and a half now so we have been training together and working really hard. When nationals got postponed again and we had a couple of more world cups to do before this, we used them as help for this event. So this is something we really wanted to target and go after.”

“This is my first ever track nationals event so it is very cool to come to. I’ve been to road nationals but this is amazing because of how close it is to home.”

With files from T02015