Canadian Para road cyclists Michael Sametz and Alexandre Hayward secured silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s C3 individual time trial at the world championships held in Huntsville, Alabama. Sametz from Calgary recorded a time of 36:33.30, while Hayward from Quispamsis, New Brunswick, finished in 37:03.18, earning his fifth career world-championship medal. The gold medal was claimed by France’s Louis Hubert with a time of 36:03.41.
For the 30-year-old Sametz, the silver medal represents another significant accomplishment in his career, which includes a Paralympic bronze in the C3 time trial at Rio 2016 and consecutive world titles in 2017 and 2018. After overcoming illness and injury that kept him out of competition for several seasons, Sametz made a remarkable comeback in 2023, securing bronze medals at both the world championships in Glasgow and the Santiago Parapan American Games.
Reflecting on his performance, Sametz stated, “I felt very fast on the first lap. It seemed like everything was lining up, and then on the second lap I almost fell off halfway through, but I hung on and kept my head tucked to hold the speed as much as possible.” Hayward, a former wheelchair basketball player, had an impressive showing at last year’s competition in Ronse, Belgium, where he clinched the C3 time trial world title and a bronze in the road race for the second consecutive year.
Hayward expressed his satisfaction with the third-place finish, stating, “And if you’re going to finish third, you want to see athletes ahead of you who you know earned it, and that’s exactly what happened today. Standing on the podium with another Canadian is incredibly special, and it’s something I’m proud of.” The UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships will continue through Monday.
