Northland para cyclist Emma Foy (left) and Hannah van Kampen took home two medals and a world title at the UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships in Canada on the weekend. Photo / Rob Jones
Northland para cyclist Emma Foy (left) and Hannah van Kampen took home two medals and a world title at the UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships in Canada on the weekend. Photo / Rob Jones
Northland para cyclist Emma Foy has continued her great form by retaining her world title at the UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships over the weekend.
Foy, riding with sighted pilot Hannah van Kampen, won the gold medal in the women's tandem individual pursuit by more than seven seconds togive the pair their second consecutive World Championship title on the track.
"We went out and we wanted to do our best ride and we did that," Foy said.
"Our qualifying ride was probably one of the best rides we have ever done together. It is great to have our main event now complete and our goals achieved."
The gold medal, which confirmed Foy (right) and van Kampen would retain their world title in the women's tandem individual pursuit, was won by over seven seconds. Photo / Rob Jones
Foy, originally from Dargaville, rode for Whangārei's Marsden Wheelers cycling club and now lives in Cambridge.
Born with the visually impairing condition oculocutaneous albinism, Foy has ridden with Hawke's Bay's van Kampen for more than a year, earning two golds across two world para cycling events in the space of six months last year.
The gold-medal-winning effort was then backed up with a bronze medal in the women's tandem one-kilometre time trial, a repeat of their third-place finish at last year's event.
Foy (left) and van Kampen's bronze medal in the women's tandem one-kilometre time trial was a repeat performance of last year's event. Photo / Rob Jones
Finishing less than half a second behind the silver medallists, Larissa Klaassen and Imke Brommer from the Netherlands, Foy said she was thrilled by the result.
"We were really happy to be so close to the silver medallists from the Netherlands who are a sprint specialist tandem. To come away with a bronze medal is a great result."
Paralympics New Zealand Para Cycling head performance coach Stu MacDonald said the pair's results over the world championship event was a promising sign for this year's Paralympic Games in Tokyo starting in August.
"Emma and Hannah had a solid ride to come third. To podium against some of the best sprint specialists bodes well for Tokyo."
