Catharine Pendrel, who was introduced to mountain biking in Greater Victoria and learned to ride on its many trails, is heading to her fourth Olympic Games just five months after giving birth to daughter Dara in January.
The biological barriers to training and competing faced by female athletes became an issue recently with the groundbreaking decision by the International Olympic Committee to allow Canadian basketball player Kim Gaucher of Mission to breastfeed her baby at the Tokyo Games.
In another key decision last week involving a Canadian female Olympian, boxer Mandy Bujold of Cobourg, Ont., was allowed a place in the Tokyo Games. The Olympic boxing selection trials were cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic so only results from 2019 were considered. Bujold was pregnant at that time and not competing, so was ruled out for Tokyo. She fought that ruling and won a Games berth based on her pre- and post-pregnancy standing.
Gaucher and Bujold had to fight the IOC and both won in what are considered trailblazing decisions for female athletes.
Two-time world champion Pendrel, who won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics, will not be taking Dara with her to Tokyo as arrangements have been made to have her daughter stay with grandparents. She does, however, appreciate the importance of the issue for those who may not have those options.
鈥淚t was a tough position for Kim [Gaucher] to be in and it鈥檚 inspiring to see that she can take her breastfeeding baby to the Olympics,鈥� said Pendrel, a University of Victoria graduate.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good conversation to get started to enable women to maintain high-performance athletics while breastfeeding.鈥�
Pendrel, 40, said the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to this summer almost put her in the same situation.
鈥淚 was planning to have a family after Tokyo. But we didn鈥檛 know if the Olympics were going to happen or not and I did not want to put my life on hold,鈥� she said.
The Bujold case is also an important precedent, said Pendrel. 鈥淲omen athletes are behind the eight ball. Mandy was fighting for maternity leave. This is 2021. That should just be a given.鈥�
It鈥檚 part of a gender- equalizing revolution, said Pendrel. 鈥淥nly in the last decade did women get equal prize money to the men in mountain biking,鈥� she said.
Three places, meanwhile, can lay claim to Pendrel and she said she appreciates all of them. She was born and raised in Harvey Station, N.B., was introduced to mountain biking and learned to ride in Victoria and now lives in Kamloops.
鈥淭hey are all special to me,鈥� said Pendrel, a gold medallist in the Commonwealth Games and Pan Am Games.
She will lean on both her sa国际传媒 community connections in the lead-up due to the forest fire situation.
鈥淎ll the trails in Kamloops are closed so I will head to the heat chamber in Victoria [located at PISE on the Camosun College Interurban campus] to get ready for the temperatures in Japan,鈥� said Pendrel.
鈥淵ou have to be adaptable in this situation.鈥�
Several Olympic team athletes, from rowing to rugby, are using the Victoria temperature chamber to acclimatize to the conditions they will face in Tokyo.
The Canadian mountain-biking team, based on Bear Mountain, named its Olympic team Tuesday. It consists of Pendrel, Haley Smith and Peter Disera. It is coached by Dan Proulx of Victoria.
鈥淚t鈥檚 become my second home and I鈥檝e been training on Victoria鈥檚 world-class trails since 2014 and they have been a huge benefit in my development as an athlete,鈥漵aid Smith, the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, who hails from Uxbridge, Ont.
About 75 Island or Island-based athletes will compete in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer.
