PALMER AND SIMPSON CROWNED CANADIAN BMX CHAMPIONS
Calgary, Alberta (August 29, 2022) – Over 700 riders from all over the country came out for the Canadian BMX Championships in Calgary, Alberta for the second year in a row on August 27th. Championship titles and maple left jerseys were awarded in the women’s and men’s categories for Junior (17-18), U23 (19-22) and Elite (23+) riders, with medals awarded to Challenge classes for age group racing from as young as five years old.
Races started out strong rounds, before heavy rain and thunderstorms got in the way, causing an afternoon-long delay before the rain returned, cancelling the rest of races for the day. Race organizers then made the decision to crown Champions based on the amount of the points collected during the day, with Olympian, James Palmer becoming the men’s Elite Canadian Champion.
“It an awesome day getting back in the gate in front of the Canadian crowd today,” said James Palmer after his win. “After having to sit out last year’s National Championships with an injury, I was eager to line up and battle for the Canadian sleeve again. I was able lay down two smooth laps before we got hit with some unfortunate rainy weather that ultimately ended our day and gave me the National Championship win based off winning the first two rounds of racing.”
In the elite field, both World Championships bronze medallist, Molly Simpson, and teammate Teigen Pascual battled it out on the track. Ultimately, it was Simpson who walked away with the title. With the addition of the U23 category this year, Curtis Crey and Megan Winger both won the first U23 BMX Canadian Champion title. Junior rider Max Ganakovsky would go on the claim the title for a second year in a row, while Keira Murphy got her hands on her first title in the women’s category.
“Making a call to cancel racing is never easy to do, but I’m thankful the officials had safety as the first priority because it would have been dangerous for us the race in those later conditions,” continued James Palmer. “A special shout-out to the track crew and volunteers for doing all they could to dry the track out and get us back out there.”
After the day of racing there were a total of six National Champions going home with their maple leaf jersey.
Results
Junior Women: 1- Keira Murphy 2- Abygale Reeve 3- Mathilde Brisebois
Junior Men: 1- Max Ganakovsky 2- Carson Kowaski 3- Dylan Tremel
U23 Women: 1- Megan Winger
U23 Men: 1- Curtis Krey 2- Edouard Brisebois 3- Thomas Jodoin
Elite Men: 1- James Palmer 2- Alex Tougas 3- Riley Lavorato
Elite Women: 1- Molly Simpson 2- Teigen Pascual
For full results, please click here.
