Canada's Maggie Coles-Lyster competes during the women's omnium event on Aug. 11.Ricardo Mazalan/The Associated Press
Bittersweet. That’s how Maggie Coles-Lyster described her ninth-place finish in the omnium at the Paris Olympics, despite turning in one of the standout performances on Canada’s track cycling team.
Coles-Lyster positioned herself wonderfully in third after the first three events – the scratch race, tempo race and elimination race – but a 16th place in the points race caused her to slip six spots down on Sunday.
American Jennifer Valente, now a two-time Olympic champion and reigning world champion in the discipline, captured gold with 144 points. Poland’s Daria Pikulik (131) claimed silver and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston (125) took bronze.
Coles-Lyster, a 25-year-old from Maple Ridge, B.C., only collected five points in the final race, finishing with 101.
“That points race is really chaotic and there’s lots of girls in here who are really strong at taking laps (which award 20 points),” Coles-Lyster said. “When it came down to it I just didn’t have the legs to follow the laps that I needed to.
“It’s bittersweet. I was really happy after the first three races, I was really proud of how I raced them. It’s a bittersweet end to it – I was hoping for more.”
Wanting more was a theme for Canada at the National Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, where the team had a difficult week.
James Hedgcock of Ancaster, Ont., and Nick Wammes of Bothwell, Ont., fell in the quarter-finals of the men’s keirin on Sunday, while reigning gold medalist Kelsey Mitchell of Sherwood Park, Alta., placed a disappointing eighth in the women’s sprint.
The team arrived in France with two medals from Tokyo (Lauriane Genest’s bronze in the keirin being the other). The women also bowed out in the keirin quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, team sprints and pursuits did no better than seventh place and Canada finished last in the women’s Madison race.
“In general, it was solid, but it was also a bit below our expectations,” high-performance director Kris Westwood said. “We came here without necessarily expecting medals, because we are somewhat in a rebuilding phase, especially in mountain biking and road cycling,
“I’m really impressed by Molly Simpson’s performance (fifth in BMX). But on the track, it was a bit disappointing. In the team pursuits that wasn’t what we expected.”
Westwood assures that his team is already working on solutions.
“Sports are complicated, and there are always unforeseen events,” he said. “People respond differently to the Games. It’s not rational, but that’s how it is. There’s more pressure, from themselves, but also externally. We try to limit that but we can’t eliminate it.
“It’s also the level we encountered here that has been incredible. We’ve seen world records fall, and everyone is at their peak at the Olympics.”
The data used by Cycling Canada indicates that the group is progressing, so it’s not a question of training methods or resources, he added.
“Our progression curve is steeper, but other nations remain a step ahead. Our big question is how we can bridge this gap,” he said. “We don’t necessarily have the same resources as other nations, but we’re not poor either.
“In the end, it’s the athlete who pedals in competitions. Our equipment is as good as other nations, our clothing is as good as other nations, our expertise is as good as other nations. Sometimes the stars align, sometimes they don’t.”
Mitchell, however, saw things differently. She tried everything to finish her second Olympic Games on a high note.
After losing in the sprint quarter-finals Saturday, she launched an attack with just under two laps to go Sunday in the race to determine fifth to eighth place, but the other three cyclists quickly caught and overtook her.
“I think I was in it because I’m a racer, I wasn’t there physically,” she said after taking a long pause to wipe her tears. “The girls (from other countries) have gotten really strong, and we just haven’t matched it. It’s really upsetting.
“We don’t need excuses. Everyone had the same amount of time as us. Tokyo was a blessing for us, we had COVID and we had such a small little bubble. We were able to train hard and were so focused and supportive, it was amazing to see the outcome. Life kind of got back to normal and the group dynamics changed.
“I love the people I work with, I’m so grateful for them, but something’s gotta change.”
Follow the latest news and highlights from the Paris Olympic Games