Eighteen nations came together for day one of the 2024 Pan American Track Cycling Championships on April 3rd at the VELO Sports Center, located on the grounds of Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. This is the first year a Pan American Track Cycling Championship has ever been hosted in the USA.
The morning kicked off with qualifying and round one sessions for Men’s and Women’s Team Pursuit and Team Sprint. Team USA will move on to the day two finals holding the top qualifying spots in both Women’s and Men’s Team Pursuit. The Women’s Team Pursuit teams consisted of: Olivia Cummins (Fort Collins, Colo.; DNA Cycling), Emily Ehrlich (Greenville, S.C.; TWENTY24 Pro Cycling), Colleen Gulick (Long Beach, Calif.; Team Skyline), and Bethany Ingram (Warrington, Penn). The Men’s team included: David Domonoske (Palo Alto, Calif.), Anders Johnson (Huntsville, Utah), Grant Koontz (Nederland, Colo.; Star Track Cycling), and Brendan Rhim (Norwich, Vt.; Project Echelon Racing).
Moving into the evening, it all came down to the main event in the Men’s and Women’s Team Sprint finals. In the Women’s Team Sprint, USA and Colombia battled for bronze while Mexico and Canada and were going for gold. Team USA, Keely Ainslie (Fullerton, Calif.), Kayla Hankins (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Mandy Marquardt (Allentown, Pa.; Team Novo Nordisk), and Emily Hayes (Rock Hill, S.C.) took the session and the bronze medal. Team Canada captured the silver and Team Mexico brought home the gold. In the Men’s Team Sprint, USA and Argentina battled for bronze while Colombia and Canada were going for gold. Team USA, Evan Boone (Phoenix), Joshua Hartman (Brooklyn, N.Y.; Start Track Cycling), Dalton Walters (Dallas) and James Alvord III (King of Prussia, Penn.), earned the bronze, Team Canada captured the silver, and Team Colombia brought home the gold.
Women’s and Men’s Scratch Race finals rounded out the night. Jennifer Valente (San Diego; TWENTY24 Pro Cycling) of Team USA won the gold for the women, Lily Plante of Team Canada claimed the silver, and Amber Joseph of Team Barbados took the bronze. Fernando Gabriel Nava Romo of Team Mexico won the gold for the men, Cristian Arriagada Pizarro of Team Chile earned the silver, and Akil Campbell of Team Trinidad & Tobago claimed the bronze.
Full results for day one, along with the schedule and live timing for day two, can be found here.
Photo: Craig Huffman
