Canadian Para road cyclists Michael Sametz and Alexandre Hayward secured silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s C3 individual time trial at the world championships held in Huntsville, Alabama. Sametz from Calgary completed the race in 36:33.30, while Hayward from Quispamsis, New Brunswick, finished in 37:03.18, earning his fifth world-championship medal. The gold medal was claimed by France’s Louis Hubert with a time of 36:03.41.
This achievement adds to the impressive career of 30-year-old Sametz, who has previously won Paralympic bronze in the C3 time trial at Rio 2016 and secured consecutive world titles in 2017 and 2018. After overcoming illness and injury that kept him out of competition for several seasons, Sametz made a triumphant return in 2023, clinching bronze medals at the world championships in Glasgow and the Santiago Parapan American Games.
Reflecting on his performance, Sametz expressed, “I felt very fast on the first lap. It seemed like everything was lining up, and then on the second lap I almost fell off halfway through, but I hung on and kept my head tucked to hold the speed as much as possible. It seemed to work. It was a hot race, but I’m very happy with the result after the last couple of years.”
Hayward, aged 29 and a former wheelchair basketball player, had previously won the C3 time trial world title at the competition in Ronse, Belgium. He continued his success this year by making it to the podium at both World Cup events in Gistel, Belgium, and Abruzzo, Italy.
Expressing his satisfaction with the third-place finish, Hayward stated, “I’m really happy with third place. And if you’re going to finish third, you want to see athletes ahead of you who you know earned it, and that’s exactly what happened today. Standing on the podium with another Canadian is incredibly special, and it’s something I’m proud of.”
The 2026 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships will continue through Monday.
