Calgary's Michael Sametz wins silver in para cycling time trial at world championships

Michael Sametz of Calgary earned silver in the men's C3 individual time trial at the Para road cycling world championships Saturday in Huntsville, Alabama, finishing in 36:33.30 behind France's Louis Hubert, who won gold with 36:03.41.

Another Canadian, Alexandre Hayward of Quispamsis, New Brunswick, took bronze in 37:03.18. The 30-year-old Sametz returned to elite competition in 2023 after four seasons sidelined by illness and injury, collecting bronze at the Glasgow world championships that year and again at the Santiago Parapan American Games.

Sametz won world titles in the C3 time trial in 2017 and 2018, and earned Paralympic bronze in the same event at Rio 2016. On Saturday, he described a tense moment midway through his second lap. "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, 29, is a former wheelchair basketball player now in his fifth career world-championship medal. He won the C3 time trial world title at last year's championships in Belgium and has reached podiums at World Cup stops in Gistel, Belgium and Abruzzo, Italy. "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 continues through Monday.