A remarkable ride ends for Simmerling

TOKYO • In the sound bite division at these Tokyo Games, this quote was good as gold.

Georgia Simmerling, such an incredible allaround athlete that she’s now represented Canada at four different Olympics in three different sports, had just competed in her final race on this celebrated stage.

So … what next?

“I’m going home, probably going to have a beer and watch my girlfriend play soccer and win friggin’ gold,” Simmerling said after her track cycling farewell. That’s a heck of a plan. Simmerling’s girlfriend is Stephanie Labbé, the goalkeeper for Canada’s women’s soccer squad. She is guaranteed to leave Tokyo with a shiny souvenir.

Friday’s showdown against Sweden — now scheduled for 8 a.m. ET — will determine if it’s gold or silver.

Simmerling just missed the podium in what will be her last Olympics, finishing fourth on the velodrome in women’s team pursuit.

The Canadians barely squeaked through the qualifying stages before Simmerling & Co. — this quartet also included Allison Beveridge, Ariane Bonhomme and Annie Foreman-mackey — shattered their own national record with a clocking of 4:09.249 in their first elimination race, cruising at an average speed of 57.744 km/h. They ultimately lost to the U.S. in the battle for bronze.

It’s the end of a remarkable ride for Simmerling.

Now 32, she is the only athlete to represent Canada in three different sports at separate Olympics — alpine skiing (Vancouver 2010), skicross (Sochi 2014) and track cycling (Rio 2016/Tokyo 2020).

She earned a bronze medal on her bike in Brazil and nearly repeated that feat here.

“I feel really proud of my team,” Simmerling said. “We had to step it up after our qualifying race, which was definitely a disappointment. We had to turn things around very quickly and I’m super proud of how we came together as a team and did that. Everybody put their best foot forward and we raced our bikes hard, and that’s all you can ask for really.

“And to set a Canadian record in Round 1 was really, really amazing. I mean, that time was really fast that we rode and a massive improvement from our previous record. To lose it in the bronze was a bit bittersweet, for sure, but we laid it all out there and gave it everything we had. You can’t ask for more than that.

“To leave my last athletic competition with how we rode, I truly am happy with the performance that we had.”