Jason Macom competed in his first paracycling world championship, here in the men's pursuit. Macom was previously a competitive mountain biker before complications with a broken ankle eventually led to the amputation of his right foot.
Photo gallery: 2017 world paracycling championships
Over four days of competition in Los Angeles, more than 70 paracycling competitors from 20 nations competed at the 2017 world paracycling championships, held at the Velo Sports Center in Carson, California. Events included the time trial, individual pursuit, 200-meter sprint, scratch race, and team sprint.
Photographer Casey B. Gibson was on hand, shooting for U.S. Paralympics Cycling, and has shared some of his favorite images.
Team USA finished atop the medal standings with 18 medals (10 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze). For the first time in the program’s history, the U.S won gold in the team sprint. Team USA broke the fourth-place curse in the team sprint as the trio of Jason Kimball, Joe Berenyi, and Chris Murphy maintained the lead throughout to take the gold. At the past five world championships, the U.S. team finished just shy of the podium with fourth-place finishes. The win marks the first-ever international team sprint title for the U.S., and only the second podium finish in the event, as the team won bronze at the Paralympic Games in London.
“The team sprint win is a huge deal,” said Ian Lawless, high performance director for U.S. Paralympics Cycling. “For our current program, it’s been four years in the making. To have our first win here in Los Angeles is huge. It’s huge for the athletes, it’s huge for the team, and it’s huge for our program. I think it will give us a lot of momentum as we look to Tokyo and beyond.”
Berenyi returned to the track to win the men’s C1-3 15-kilometer scratch race and claimed his fourth medal of the championships. Berenyi’s victory was an improvement from his silver-medal finish in the same event in 2015, and completed Berenyi’s career collection of a world title in every event.
“The team sprint was super exciting,” Berenyi said. “Chris Murphy had won his first world title in the kilo. Jason Kimball has been with the program so long. We put the right combination together for the team sprint and we were confident we could do really well. Everything was firing on all cylinders. So it means more to win as a team, than individually. It’s phenomenal.”
American Shawn Morelli claimed gold in the women’s C4 4-kilometer individual pursuit by overtaking Canada’s Marie-Claude Molnar. Morelli also won her first time trial world title. “It’s really exciting to win back-to-back titles on our home track and in front of our home crowd, especially in front of my family,” Morelli said. “It’s a great feeling. It’s hard to put into words.”
The gold-medal final of the women’s C5 4km pursuit was a showdown between Team USA’s Samantha Bosco and Jennifer Schuble. Ultimately it was Bosco who pulled away to cross the line first and claim gold, with Schuble in silver. The win marked the first world championship title for Bosco, and the second podium of the championships for Schuble, who won gold in the time trial.
“I don’t really know how to put it into words,” Bosco said. “It’s indescribable. I thought getting my first bronze medal in Rio was something that was a complete and utter shock, and unsurpassable. This is right up there with it. I’m thankful for it. It’s not just a medal for me, it’s a medal for all the people who believed in me and supported me along the way. For my great uncle Bill who passed away on Valentine’s Day, and even for the people who doubted me. A lot went into making this hapen, and I’m just glad I could represent those people and my country.”
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- Its an all GB women’s tandem podium. Great Britain brought four young teams to the competition, and swept the podium in the women’s kilometer for blind tandems.
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- Canada’s Ross Wilson rides to another gold medal. Wilson dominated his classification and took home two gold medals.
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- Jamie Whitmore of the USA wins the women’s C 1-2 3 kilometer time trial. She also took gold in the women’s C1-2 scratch race.
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- Celebrating the first mixed-team sprint win ever for the USA: Chris Murphy, Jason Kimball and Joe Berenyi with their gold medals, rainbow jerseys and the American flag.
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- The USA men’s team sprint squad took gold with a near perfect ride. The team of Jason Kimball, Joe Berenyi, and Chris Murphy beat Spain by over half a second.
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- Spain’s blind tandem of Ignacio Avila Rodriguez and Joan Font Bertoli on a gold-medal ride. After just missing out on gold at the last world championship, they were determined to win. They dominated, overtaking Australia in the final.
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- Team USA’s head coach Simon Bennett pushes Chris Murphy to finish his kilometer ride strongly, and it paid off with a gold medal.
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- Chris Murphy walks out to the start of the men’s C5 kilometer time trial. Murphy was an alternate at the Rio Games, and was inspired to improve his training to make the squad. It payed off with two gold medals and a bronze in Los Angeles.
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- Shawn Morelli took gold in the women’s 3 kilometer pursuit, in addition to the 500 meter time trial in her signature helmet. She has competed in paracycling since 2010, after being injured during her military service in Afghanistan.
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- Slovakia’s Jozef Metelka shows the form that won the men’s 4 kilometer pursuit. Metelka also won the gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
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- Jason Macom competed in his first paracycling world championship, here in the men’s pursuit. Macom was previously a competitive mountain biker before complications with a broken ankle eventually led to the amputation of his right foot.
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- One of the best known paracyclists in the world, Juan Jose Mendez Fernandez competes in the C1 classification of the men’s pursuit. In spite of missing an arm and leg on the same side, he manages to start from a dead stop and gain speed quite quickly on the banked track.
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- Todd Key stores his flowers and bronze medal in his racing prosthesis as other riders warm up.
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- Billy Lister of the USA flashed by on his way to a silver medal in the men’s 3 kilometer pursuit.
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- There are no age limits on paracyclists. The ever-young Aaron Kieth warms up for his kilometer time trial, at the age of 55.
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- Anna Harkowska of Polande attacked off the front of the group to win the women’s scratch race. She has turned to paracycling after being seriously injured in a car accident while she was training to be a professional cyclist.
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- Robin Farina and Shawn Cheshire compete in the women’s blind tandem 3 kilometer pursuit. This was the first paracycling competition for Farina, a former U.S. national road champion. Several tandems take their pilots from a road racing career.
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- Alistair Donohoe of Australia leads a group in the men’s C5 scratch race, eventually finishing second. Donohoe has just returned to the track after finishing fourth in the Australian U23 national championships.
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- The custom prosthetic of Jody Cundy of Great Britain, and the powerful leg that made him a world class cyclist. Cundy has won the men’s kilometer at the Paracycling World Championships for an incredible 11 straight years, and also took gold in Rio.
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- Tristen Chernove of Canada wins the men’s C2 4 km pursuit. Chernove won three medals at the Paralympics in Rio, and took gold in two events in Los Angeles, in spite of being in the sport for a short time.
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- Brazil had only one competitor, but Lauro Cesar Chaman made it count. He took medals in three events, including a tremendous effort on the final day’s scratch race to take a lap and eventually finish third.
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- Samantha Bosco celebrates her first gold medal at the world championships with a win in front of friends and family.
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- Joe Berenyi of Team USA put a nice cap on the weekend, winning his third gold medal in four races. Berenyi won the C3 men’s scratch race with a huge move in the final two corners, easily dropping the rest of the field.
