Members of the Canadian team conducted a training block this month at the national triathlon centre in Victoria to work on the pieces of the puzzle that will hopefully fit together to become the Olympic squad next summer at Paris 2024.
The biggest piece is two-time Olympian Tyler Mislawchuk, but Charles Paquet gave everybody something to think about with a seventh-place finish Saturday in the World Triathlon Championship Series race in Montreal.
The 25-year-old Paquet has been knocking on the door since winning the mixed-relay silver medal with Desirae Ridenour of Cowichan Bay, Hannah Henry of Victoria and Alexis Lepage at the 2019 Lima Pan Am Games.
“It feels so good to have a performance that I know I am capable of doing,” Paquet said in a statement Saturday.
“On the bike, I was just like: ‘Don’t crash, don’t crash.’ I knew the guys at the back were coming back, but I also knew I could have a good run. I thought this will be a good result, just kept pushing until the end.”
Matthew Hauser of Australia won in 53:47 with Manoel Messias of Brazil second in 53:58 while Jelle Geens of Belgium was third in 54:02. Paquet was across in 54:10 seconds following the 750-metre swim, 20K bike race and 5K run.
Mislawchuk was 15th in 54:39 after placing second in the World Triathlon Cup in Huatulco, Mexico, last week in 54:15. Martin Sobey of Victoria was 37th Saturday in 56:55 at Montreal after placing 14th in 55:05.
The Paris Olympics qualifying window is now open, so accumulating points in international races is important.
“You need to get quite a few points for Paris and getting them early takes the pressure off,” Manitoba native Mislawchuk told the sa国际传媒 during training camp in Victoria this month. “The next 12 months are big. Although you realize there’s a lot more at stake, you treat it as much a normal year as possible. A big part of it is staying healthy.”
University of Victoria graduate Sobey said: “Paris is an opportunity we are very much gearing up for. It helps having Tyler in Victoria training. We motivate and push each other.”
Beth Potter of Great Britain won the women’s race in Montreal in 58:10 with Leonie Periault of France second in 58:12 and Summer Rappaport of the U.S. third in 58:19. Canadians Dominika Jamnicky and Emy Legault were 59:06 and 1:02:01 for 17th and 40th, respectively.
The mixed-relay race, also an Olympic event, is today.
