Kevin Quintero achieved a historic victory for Colombia at the Glasgow Cycling World Championships, by winning the elite keirin event and becoming universal champion, thus improving his bronze in the last edition of Saint Quentin En Yvelines.
Quintero’s power and explosiveness were the main characteristics in the tests prior to his victory. After passing the qualifying rounds, the Colombian had a great performance in the quarterfinals, in which he finished second in heat 2, only being surpassed by the Dutchman Harrie Levreysen, multi-monarch of the world and who had triumphed in this specialty in the last World Cup in France.
Already in the semifinals, the Colombian runner was first in heat 1, which meant fighting for medals for the second consecutive year. In that matchup Jack Carlin and Harrie Levreysen occupied the second and third positions.
For the final, Quintero defeated Australian Mathew Richardson and Japanese Shinji Nakano, thus achieving the first gold for Colombia at the Glasgow World Championships. This was the second joy that track cycling brings to Colombia in this global fight, since Martha Bayona won the silver medal in the keirin itself three days before.
Colombia also files a third medal on the track with the bronze for Paula Ossa, who competed in the paracycling scratch. The Valle del Cauca cyclist made sure to wear the rainbow shirt in the next competitions. In BMX, the country has 4 medals in youth categories.
Next Friday, Walter Vargas and Harold Tejada will make their appearance in the individual time trial, who commented that they hope to make a good performance in the test. “I feel good physically and I’m in good condition,” said the rider, who was the best Colombian overall in the last Tour de France. On Thursday, August 10, Diana Peñuela will represent the country in the elite women’s CRI.
The President of the Colombian Cycling Federation, Mauricio Vargas Carreño, declared to the Colombian press that Kevin Quintero’s triumph “is the result of serious and responsible work by the Federation, despite the fact that some believe that it is not does it this way. We have been working together to seek the best results”.
Likewise, the executive spoke about what is coming for Colombian track cycling. “The important thing is that you work with responsibility and dedication with the best will on the part of the Federation. We spare no effort to keep them in the best conditions. We aspire to have a spectacular presentation at the World Junior Track Championship that we will be holding in the City of Cali from August 22 to 27, where we will have more than 45 countries present”.