Canada’s Kelsey Mitchell to race for gold medal in women’s sprint final | CBC Sports

Mitchell, 27, beat Hinze 2-1 in the best-of-three series. She’ll face Ukraine’s Olena Starikova in the final later Sunday in Japan.

The sprint features cyclists going head-to-head in three-lap, 200-metre races.

The podium appearance on the final day of competition in Tokyo is Canada’s 24th medal, extending a record for the country at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics.

It will be Mitchell’s first Olympic medal at her Games debut.

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In the quarter-finals, Mitchell ousted fellow Canadian and Tokyo 2020 women’s keirin bronze medallist Lauriane Genest.

Mitchell said the two had never raced each other, and joked that they’d save the first time for the Olympics. But they had hoped they’d be racing against each other for medals.

“It sucks when you knock out one of your teammates,” Mitchell said. 

Genest, of Levis, Que., agreed.

“It’s not something that we want. We both want to be in the top four and race for that medal,” Genest said. “But I’d rather lose against her than any other country or anyone else.”

Mitchell only began cycling at 23 years old after coming up as a soccer player.

But she took to the sport quickly, eventually winning sprint gold in the 2019 Pan Am Games and placing fourth in the event at the 2020 world championships.

Earlier at these Games, she placed fifth in the keirin.

In the women’s omnium, Canada’s Allison Beveridge sits 10th after two of four events.