ADELAIDE, Australia – Canada’s Para cyclists opened the Paralympic Games season with a bang on Monday as Alexandre Hayward of Quispamsis, N.B. won the gold medal in the men’s C3 individual time trial at the year’s first World Cup.
Hayward, 26, clocked the 15.6 kilometre ride in 19 minutes and 04.94 seconds. Two-time Paralympic track cycling champion David Nicholas of Australia took the silver finishing more than 11 seconds back, and Eduardo Santas Asensio of Spain was third.
Veteran rider Shelley Gautier of Niagara Falls, Ont. added a silver in the women’s tricycle (T1) while bronze medals were earned by Charles Moreau of Victoriaville, Que. in the men’s handcycle (H3) and world champion Nathan Clement of West Vancouver in the men’s T1.
Lowell Taylor of Lethbridge, Alta. and his pilot Ed Veal of Toronto took fourth in the men’s visually impaired time trial while Kara Douville of Calgary was sixth in the women’s H4.
In 2023, Hayward had a rough start to his year as he battled mononucleosis that set him back in his training. He recovered in time for the world championships in Glasgow where he earned fifth in the road race.
At the Parapan Ams in November he won the gold medal in the time trial and added a silver in the road race in addition to a gold and bronze on the track.
Hayward, a former member of the national junior wheelchair basketball team, broke his neck in a AAA hockey game in 2012, just weeks before the QMJHL draft. He started Para cycling in 2022.
Competition continues Tuesday with the road races in the C1-5 and B (visually impaired) categories.
