July 30, 2007 (Victoria, BC) — After a disappointing showing on Saturday, Alberta rider Samantha Cools came back with a vengeance on Sunday at the BMX World Championships in Victoria, B.C., reaching the Elite finals in the Cruiser challenge after literally dominating all of her races during the day.

The Alberta native finished fifth in the Elite Women challenge with a final time of 41.079 seconds. Sarah Walker of New Zealand took first place (38.706), followed by Czech athlete Aneta Hladikova (39.515) and French competitor Amélie Despeaux (40.284).

“I definitely had a better day today than I did yesterday,” said Cools. “I won all my preliminary races and my semi-final. In the finals, I hit the starting gate, which cost me a few seconds, and I couldn’t catch up after that.”

Cools attributes her weak performance on Saturday to pressure, no doubt due to the importance of the Elite challenge in Olympic qualification. “On Saturday, I felt a lot more pressure. On Sunday, I woke up thinking I would simply do my best. That took a load off my mind.”

“Perhaps the result doesn’t tell the whole story, especially because of my error at the start of the finals,” she said. “But I was the fastest woman today, and that’s a good sign. I was able to truly show Canada that I am competitive.”

James Brown Makes Quarter-finals and Posts Best Personal Result

In the Junior Men Cruiser category, the best Canadian time was clocked by James Brown, 18, who finished seventh in his group in the quarter-finals. The victory went to Fausto Endara (ECU), while second and third places went to Yvan Lapraz (SUI) and George Sowers (USA), respectively.

For Brown, who first participated in the World Championships in 1996, this was his best result so far in this tournament.

“I had good races all day and for the most part, I was in the lead, so I was confident going into the semi-finals. Then I got off to a bad start, and came in seventh in the end. Still, I’m very happy with my performance.”

Brown had also finished seventh the previous day in the Junior challenge.

“My goal for this coming year is to train and compete in the Olympics,” he declared. “I’ve got a good chance. But as in anything, it will be really hard. I will need to compete in several UCI selection events this year.”

Watch the 2007 BMX World Championships on CBC on Saturday, August 4, 2007, 4:00 p.m.

Results

Junior Women

1. Magalie Pottier (Fra) 39.876
2. Romana Labounkova (Cze) 0.592
3. Joyce Seesing (Ned) 0.72
4. Manon Valentino (Fra) 1.203
5. Maria Eugenia Ruarte (Arg) 1.819
6. Caroline Buchanan (Aus) 2.034
7. Kaila Sweeney (Can) 3.654
8. Madison Pitts (Usa) 35.039

Junior Men

1. Fausto Endara (Ecu) 35.741
2. Yvan Lapraz (Sui) 0.855
3. George Sowers (Usa) 0.932
4. Logan Collins (Usa) 1.073
5. Stepan Tumpach (Cze) 1.239
6. Kory Cook (Usa) 1.387
7. James Brown (Can) 1.428
8. Vincent Pelluard (Fra) 2.332

Elite Women

1. Sarah Walker (Nzl) 38.706
2. Aneta Hladikova (Cze) 0.809
3. Amelie Despeaux (Fra) 1.578
4. Cyrielle Convert (Fra) 2.261
5. Samantha Cools (Can) 2.373
6. Maria Dutto Belen (Arg) 2.912
7. Elodie Ajinca (Fra) 3.626
8. Aurelia Don (Fra) 4.57

Elite Men

1. Jonathan Suarez (Ven) 35.062
2. Danny Caluag (Usa) 0.109
3. Kelvin Batey (Gbr) 0.237
4. Arturs Matisons (Lat) 0.285
5. Raymon Van Der Biezen (Ned) 1.051
6. Sergio Salazar Lopez (Col) 1.111
7. Moana Moo Caille (Fra) 3.244
8. Rob Van Der Wildenberg (Ned) 3.655