Haley Smith builds on bronze
Haley Smith missed the Toronto Raptors lose Game 2 of the nba final because she went to bed early that night. She was home in basketball-mad Southern Ontario still suffering from jet lag following the racing she had done in Europe, which included her third-place finish at the uci mountain bike World Cup in Nové Město, Czech Republic. It was her best result ever at a World Cup.
Although she didn’t have the best start loop, her race went well. She rode at her own pace in sixth place for most the event on a course she enjoys. (“The better you feel about a course, the less stress you feel,” she said.) In the closing laps, Smith was able to capitalize on Anne Tauber’s drivetrain issues following a fall and Jolanda Neff’s flat tire. Smith came across the finish line after Kate Courtney and Rebecca Mcconnell.
A little more than a year ago, Smith had another third-place finish: bronze at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. She compared the significance of the two events. “I think the Commonwealth Games was a breakout experience for me,” she said. “I won’t say result, but an experience. I went in pretty unconfident and feeling like I maybe didn’t deserve to be there. But by focusing on the process, by being grateful and enjoying the experience, I was able to have a good result. The perspective I picked up there, I’ve carried forward. That’s helped me to achieve what I did at Nové Město. I was on the start line, ready and grateful and making sure my ego was in check, and that I had respect for my competitors and the event.”
Ahead of Smith lay a busy summer: more World Cups and the mountain bike world championships in Mont-sainte-anne. Also, she and teammate/ fiancé Andrew L’esperance had a wedding to plan. Rest, not Raptors, seemed like the right choice.