Canada's Haley Smith wins mountain biking bronze at Commonwealth Games
23-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., finishes 2:24 behind England's Annie Last
Canadian Haley Smith won bronze behind a pair of English riders in the women's cross-country mountain biking event at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.
Annie Last won in one hour 18.02 seconds, finishing 48 seconds ahead of teammate Evie Richards. Smith, a 23-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., was 2:24 behind the winner.
"I don't know how to feel yet. I did not expect to win a medal today," said Smith.
Emily Batty of Brooklin, Ont., a silver medallist four years ago in Glasgow and fourth-place finisher at the Rio Olympics, was fourth — 36 seconds behind Smith.
"I started really strong and made a big charge at the end of the first lap, but I was paying for that mid-race," said Batty. "It's a decent result, but not what I was after."
Last's win ended Canada's stranglehold on the women's event at the games. Canadians Catharine Pendrel (2014), Marie-Helene Premont (2006) and Chrissy Redden (2002) had won the three previous races.
Pendrel elected not to take part in the Gold Coast Games.
Last made history in July 2017 when she became the first British woman in 20 years to win at the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-Country World Cup.