Para track cyclist Kate O'Brien adds silver medal to Canadian tally at world championships

Canada's national cycling team added to their medal tally at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland on Sunday, as Kate O'Brien grabbed a silver medal on Day 4 of competition.

The 35-year-old from Calgary reached the podium in the women's C4 500-metre time trial, adding to an impressive resumé in the event that includes silver at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. She also won gold at the 2020 world championships and silver at last year's worlds.

O'Brien crossed the line in 38.136 seconds at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow, only trailing Great Britain's Kadeena Cox, who won with a time of 35.961.

The podium is Canada's fifth at these worlds, building on a four-medal performance from Friday that saw Bodhi Kuhn of Rossland, B.C., win silver in the junior men's mountain bike downhill. Esta Bovill (women 45-49), Pascal Herve (men 55-59) and Michelle Gagnon (women 19-34) added medals in the Gran Fondo, winning a silver and two bronze, respectively.

"It feels amazing to win a medal," O'Brien said. "Training is always a mobile plan: this is the best performance I've had in the last three competitions, so I think training is in the right direction.

"Still have some things to work on, but this has given some good information on what we need to hit a bit. My plan moving forward is to have some stable training and therapy, get some equipment fitting and come back to win gold next year."

Mitchell finishes 9th in women's elite keirin

Canadians continued on the track following the medal performance. Reigning Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell of Sherwood Park, Alta., cycled to a ninth-place finish in the women's elite keirin, while Victoria's Sarah Van Dam placed seventh in the women's elite elimination race.

On the men's side, Chris Ernst of Kitchener, Ont., and Michael Foley of Milton, Ont., raced the men's elite individual pursuit, finishing ninth and 17th, respectively. Carson Mattern of Ancaster, Ont., completed the trio with an 18th-place finish.

Mississauga, Ont., native Dylan Bibic finished 13th in the men's elite omnium, placing fifth in the scratch race, seventh in the tempo race, fourth in the elimination race and 15th in the points race.

On the road, Montreal's Guillaume Boivin finished 36th in the men's 271.1-kilometre Road Race, followed by Nickolas Zukowsky of Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Que., in 40th.

Canadians also took to the dirt in the mountain bike XCM, with Uxbridge, Ont., native Haley Smith topping Canadian results in 15th place among the women, followed by Maghalie Rochett of Saint-Adèle, Que., in 22nd and Andrew L'Esperance of Halifax in 34th in the men's event.