MITCHELL AND DE HAITRE FINISH JUST OFF THE PODIUM AT BERLIN TRACK WORLDS

Berlin, Germany (February 29, 2020) – Canada had another strong showing on day three of the UCI Track World Championships in Berlin as Kelsey Mitchell and Vincent de Haitre secured fourth place finishes in their respective events. Both were racing at the World Championships for the first time in their cycling careers.

Vincent de Haitre had an impressive qualifying ride in the Kilo setting a personal best and qualifying with the fourth fastest time. The Ottawa native and Olympic speed skater went even faster in the final round setting a time of 1:00.119 and coming just .016s off the podium.

In the women’s Sprint semifinals, Kelsey Mitchell faced Anastasiia Voinova, pushing the Russian to three rides but did not advance to the gold medal final, instead facing last year’s world champion Wai Sze Lee for bronze. Mitchell faced a tough matchup with the veteran rider from Hong Kong and lost out in two rides but once again showed how far she has come since joining the cycling program just two years ago.

“Fourth place at my first Worlds in the Olympic year…I’m obviously happy to make it to the finals but fourth is tough,” said Mitchell. “There’s no way around it; watching the other three get a medal was hard, but getting those extra races in will definitely help me learn. I’m racing some of the best and learning every single time.”