A year ago, Canada’s first three-sport Olympian was broken.A year ago, Canada’s first three-sport Olympian was broken.
Georgia Simmerling had crashed during a ski cross competition weeks before the Pyeongchang Olympics where she was expected to be a medal contender.But just 14 months later, the 29-year-old West Vancouver, B.C., native is preparing to race at the top level once again, competing this week at the track cycling world championships in Poland.“It was a lot of tears,” she said from Cycling Canada’s training facility in Milton, Ont. “I was broken for sure.
“I definitely get that sense of adrenaline that I got from ski cross,” she said of the sport. “I think that competing as a team was something that I really fell in love with.”She also made history, becoming the first Canadian to compete in different sports at three separate Olympics. “I think challenges really test us as human beings, not only as athletes,” she said. “I’ve definitely been tested over my career, for sure, and this last injury was just another test for me. It puts your life into perspective and it puts your job into perspective.”
“She came in, atrophied muscles. She couldn’t even really properly take her feet out of the pedals, it was so painful,” said Kris Westwood, Cycling Canada’s high performance director. Her team — which also included Allison Beveridge of Calgary, Ariane Bonhomme of Gatineau, Que., and Annie Foreman-Mackey of Kingston, Ont. — posted a time of four minutes, 15.179 seconds in the first round, less than one second off the national record set at the 2016 Olympics.“It’s truly incredible and quite inspirational to see her just taking her natural talents and drive and turn her season around like that,” he said.
They’re also hoping for a top-five finish in the men’s team pursuit after Aidan Caves of Vancouver, Derek Gee of Ottawa, Adam Jamieson of Barrie, Ont., and Jay Lamoureux of Victoria, B.C., broke a Canadian record and captured silver at a World Cup event in New Zealand last month.
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