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Newsletter By Adam Beauchemin, Jackson Starr, Martin Cleary, Dan Plouffe & Kaitlyn LeBoutillier
For track cyclist Ariane Bonhomme, the Paris Games didn’t go exactly as planned.
Bonhomme entered the Olympics as the sole returning member of the pursuit team that was seconds away from claiming a bronze medal in Tokyo in 2021, and she had podium aspirations for the 2024 Summer Games.
However, the 29-year-old Ottawa Bicycle Club product from Gatineau and another teammate were struck with an illness before their first event, and the Canadians finished eighth in the pursuit event.
“It was definitely quite disappointing,” Bonhomme said in an interview with Ottawa Sports Pages reporter Adam Beauchemin. “We did have a bit of sickness going around the team, so that didn’t help. But, it’s hard to see our team not do as well as our expectations.”
Bonhomme also raced in the madison event with Maggie Coles-Lyster, but the duo dropped out of the race mid-way through the event.
As Bonhomme explains it, the difference between landing on the podium and landing outside the top-3 may have been a matter of days, or even hours.
“I wish racing was this week,” she said. “It was weird — it was definitely a question of hours. I think had we raced 24 or 48 hours later it would have been different.
Bonhomme’s teammate got sick upon arriving in Paris and had time to recover before competing, but the two-time Olympian wasn’t as fortunate — Bonhomme fell ill the afternoon before their first event.
“I started feeling sick and I didn’t really have time to think about it,” she said. “I just had to work really closely with the doctors and our team and try to be as best as possible on the start line.”
Heading into the race, Bonhomme was well aware of what this illness could mean for her team’s podium chances — when you’re racing against the best in the world, being a split-second behind your normal pace could make all the difference.
“It’s such a thin margin kind of sport that you really have to be at your best for a long time coming into it,” she said.
Despite being dealt the tough hand, there was no time to sulk.
“I told the girls we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves about this — we just have to race and we can figure it out after,” she explained.
On Aug. 6, Bonhomme and her teammates — Coles-Lyster, Sarah Van Dam and Erin Atwelll — took to the track for the qualifying time trial. The team qualified for the first round of competition, but just barely — they edged out the ninth place Ireland by .242 seconds to earn the eighth and final spot in the knockout rounds.
As if an illness wasn’t enough, the Canadians were also on the unfortunate end of an officiating miscue and had to cycle two extra laps in the qualifying round because the bell to indicate the last lap of the race was not rung on time.
Still, the very next day, the quartet was back on track looking to secure a spot in the bronze medal match that would be happening later that day.
While the illness-stricken cyclists shaved off nearly two seconds from their previous effort, they were knocked out of medal contention and into a 7-8 classification race with Australia, which ultimately took seventh.
“It was almost like autopilot — just doing what I had to do to get to the start line in the best shape possible,” Bonhomme indicated. “Afterwards, as soon as we finished, it kind of hit everyone how stressful it was. We got through it — it wasn’t the result we wanted, but I think everyone was proud of how they handled it.”
Now, fresh off her second Olympics, Bonhomme said she’s still sorting out what her future in the sport will be, including deciding whether she’ll be gunning for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
“I don’t want to just keep going because I’m missing something on my shelf,” she signalled. “I want to keep going because I love the sport and I just need to figure out if that’s what I want to do with my time for the next four years.”
Luckily for Bonhomme, the L.A. Games are a long way away and she will have plenty of time to process her experience in Paris before deciding whether she’ll compete again in 2028.
“My experience in Tokyo still has a very special place in my heart, more than this past week at this moment,” she said. “I know that I’ll come around to enjoy what happened in the last couple weeks and I know at some point it’ll have a special place in my heart — but, not right now.”
While Bonhomme’s future as track cyclist is uncertain, it’s clear that she won’t be stepping away from the bicycle anytime soon. Bonhomme’s very first plan after wrapping up the Games in Paris is to take on a massive cycling backpacking trip through Spain with a close friend.
“It’s 1,000 kilometers away and we’re doing it in like eight days — it’s all I’m thinking about right now,” she smiled.
Gale, relay team post season best in relay finals, place 6th
Lauren Gale anchored the Canadian women’s 4×400-metre relay team today as they ran to a sixth-place finish and posted a seasonal best time of 3:22.01.
Gale once again ran with Zoe Sherar and Kyra Constantine, but the Canadians opted to swap out Aiyanna Stiverne, who ran in Friday’s qualifier, for Savannah Sutherland. The Canadians improved upon their first round time by nearly four seconds.
The USA dominated the race, finishing over four seconds ahead of the rest of the field. The Americans’ impressive time of 3:15.27 put them within striking distance of the world record set in 1988 by the USSR, which was .1 seconds faster at 3:15.17.
The Netherlands earned silver and were followed closely by Great Britain in third.
The Canadians were in fifth place when Gale received the baton. While France’s Louise Maraval snuck past the Canadian anchor to claim the fifth spot, Gale managed to stay ahead of the Belgian team and secure Canada sixth place in the race.
The 24-year-old Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club sprinter ran a split of 50.46 — over half a second faster than yesterday’s time of 51.04.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Gale was named as a member of the 4×400 m relay pool, but was not selected to run as Canada posted its second consecutive Olympic fourth-place finish in the event.
Earlier this week, Gale fought off an illness as she raced in the individual 400 m and finished 24th overall in the event.
Jessica Gaudreault, Canada water polo fall to Greece and place 8th
Jessica Gaudreault minded the net one final time in Paris as the Canadians lost 19-10 to Greece in the women’s water polo 7-8 classification match.
While the game ended in a nine-point difference, the Canadians and Greeks were evenly matched for much of the game.
Greece opened the scoring halfway through the first quarter and the Canadians replied by scoring two goals in rapid succession, one from an extra player shot and another on a penalty shot. Greece soon retook the lead — which they would ultimately hold for the remainder of the match — but the Canadians stayed within striking distance as they headed into halftime down 7-5.
The Greek team upped its pressure in the second half of the match, netting 12 goals in the final 16 minutes of the game.
Gaudreault, who faced 17 shots and stopped five, was replaced by Clara Vulpisi in the final quarter of the game.
This was Gaudreault’s first time at the Olympics, and the Capital Wave player started in net for the Canadians in every match of the tournament.
Preview: Final day celebrations coming up for Ottawa athletes, coaches and staff
Ottawa Olympians’ competitions are now in the books, and for the large set of local coaches and staff involved with Team Canada, their duties are nearing completion as well.
We’ve focused much of our attention on our local athletes’ performances of course, but there were many individuals listed by the Canadian Olympic Committee as part of Canada’s Paris 2024 delegation from Ottawa, who played a big part in powering the Team Canada engine behind the scenes. They are:
Caroline Sharp (Athletics) – Media Attaché
Kayla Minott (Men’s Basketball) – Operations Coordinator
Jackie Skender (Volleyball) – Media Attaché
Emily MacKeigan (Canoe/Kayak Sprint) – Team Manager
Ian Mortimer (Canoe/Kayak Sprint) – Team Leader
LA Schmidt (Canoe/Kayak Sprint) – Family & Friends Lead
Penny Werthner (Canoe/Kayak Sprint) – Mental Performance Consultant
James Cartwright (Canoe/Kayak Slalom) – Team Leader
Michal Staniszewski (Canoe/Kayak) – Coach
Shelley Milton (Cycling) – Team Manager
Kris Westwood (Cycling) – Team Leader
Carter Woods (Cycling) – Alternate Athlete
Nancy Brawley (Diving) – Team Manager
Mitch Geller (Diving) – Team Leader
Julien Camus (Fencing) – Men’s Foil Coach
John Atkinson (Swimming) – High Performance Director
Mark Perry (Swimming) – Open Water Coach
Kale Whitton (Wrestling) – Team Leader
Yesterday, we highlighted the pride Athletics Canada head coach Glenroy Gilbert of Ottawa felt in watching the Canadian men’s 4×100 m relay team winning Olympic gold in the same event he won himself 28 years ago.
There was another local coach whose athletes earned some hardware as well. That would be Pierre Lafontaine, who was a coach for China’s swim team.
Lafontaine helped Yang Chang and Tang Qianting pick up two silver medals and a bronze in relay events, and also coached Dong Zhihao, who finished fourth in the men’s 200 m breaststroke.
Tomorrow evening in Paris comes the chance for the athletes, coaches and support staff alike to celebrate their Games with the Closing Ceremonies, which begins at 3 p.m. ET.
There will be a number of performances, followed by the passing of the Olympic torch to Los Angeles, which will be hosting the Summer Games in 2028.
Tomorrow, we’ll also be looking back on some of the big highlights from the Olympics for Team Ottawa, along with some more reflections from our local Olympians, which we look forward to sharing with you.
And as the Games wind down, we are still winding up our Ottawa Sports Pages Fund campaign, so this is your friendly reminder that if you’ve enjoyed our Ottawa at the Olympics coverage throughout these past few weeks and would like to support our ongoing local sports storytelling, we’d love to have you consider making a donation at OCF-FCO.ca/Ottawa-Sports-Pages-Fund.
A big thank you again to all who have already contributed, we so appreciate your support!
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