Kelsey Mitchell wins women’s sprint bronze at track cycling worlds
Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell won her first career world championship medal on Friday, winning bronze in the women’s sprint event at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Roubaix, France.
To reach the podium, Mitchell beat teammate Lauriane Genest twice in their head-to-head race for third. Germany’s Emma Hinze won the event after racing her teammate Lea Friedrich.
— Cycling Canada (@CyclingCanada) October 22, 2021
BRONZE
's first medal of #Roubaix2021 after winning the first 2 races against teammate Lauriane Genest in the women's Sprint final.
Great way to close out day 3⃣ of racing with plenty more speed to come!@cdncyclist pic.twitter.com/6ixhR74aPo
While it may be hard to believe, Mitchell has only been competing in track cycling for the past three years after being introduced to the sport at RBC Training Ground in 2017.
Since then, the 27-year-old has become a world record holder, Pan American Games champion and three-time World Cup medallist. This summer at Tokyo 2020, she also added Olympic gold medallist to her impressive resume – becoming just the second Canadian track cyclist to win gold at the Olympics.
READ: Mitchell sprints from cycling newcomer to Tokyo 2020 gold medallist
Today’s bronze is the first medal for Team Canada for this world championships. The competition will continue through Sunday where Canadians are set to compete in omnium, keirin and men’s sprint.