Tristen Chernove has added to his Paralympic medal total.
The qathet region born and raised para-cyclist, who now lives in Cranbrook, won a silver medal in the C1 3,000 metre individual pursuit race at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 on August 26. The games began on August 24 after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Russian Paralympic Committee cyclist Mikhail Astashov overtook Chernove in the gold medal race at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka. Li Z. picked up the bronze for China.
“I was super thrilled to make it into the final,” said Chernove. “The final was not so great, obviously no one ever wants to get caught; I knew [Astashov] would go out fast, and I tried to start fast, but I probably started too fast.”
The medal is the fourth of Chernove’s career. He earned silver in the same event at the 2016 Rio Games, where he also won gold in the road cycling C2 time trial and bronze in the C1-3 1,000-metre time trial on the track.
Chernove was also scheduled to compete in the 4,000 time trial, the road time trial and the road race at the Paralympics in Tokyo, but withdrew from further competition prior to those events.
In a message to the media, and his friends and family, Chernove’s mother, Malerie Meeker, stated that there were multiple reasons at play in his decision-making.
“It basically boiled down to ‘it’s time for other competitors to take their turn on the podium,’” added Meeker. “My heart is bursting (again) with pride.”
Chernove took up cycling to offset the effects of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, a rare hereditary disorder that affects the nervous system and produces symptoms similar to muscular dystrophy. He was diagnosed in 2009.
Chernove led the Canadian team with silver medals in the kilo, scratch race, and omnium at the 2020 world track championships just before the pandemic hit.
Canadian athletes have won four medals at the Tokyo Paralympics so far.
