Mel Pemble has twice as many world championship medals as she does years of experience in her sport.
The Para cyclist from Victoria added four more to her collection last month on the track in Rio de Janeiro, highlighted by a gold medal in the sprint.
Following a heartbreaking fourth-place finish at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Pemble has bounced back with her best-ever medal haul at worlds as she sets her sights on L.A. 2028.
Born with cerebral palsy affecting her right side, Pemble competes in the C-class, which saw the introduction of the sprint and elimination events during this year’s worlds at the Rio Olympic Velodrome. She captured the historic sprint title on the final day, her eleventh career world medal.
“As I crossed the line … knowing that I just won the first title ever, it was a super crazy feeling,” Pemble told CBC Sports. “It was a bit of relief, but mostly it was just super exciting to be able to bring that title back to Canada.
“It only really hit once I was standing on the podium and realizing what had just happened, and some tears started flowing.”
Overcoming Paralympic disappointment
It marked a moment of redemption for Pemble, who finished just 0.3 seconds away from a Paralympic medal in Paris. Competing at her first Games, Pemble was narrowly denied bronze in the C1-3 500-metre time trial after her time failed to hold up against the adjusted time of the more impaired German rider.
“After Paris and after the very, very close fourth place, I had a hard time keeping the motivation through the winter … But [my coach] gave me a huge amount of space to deal with that emotion … to get just as committed, and then have everything fall into place by last month at worlds. It was a relief for him as well.”
Conquering challenges is nothing new for Pemble, a former Winter Paralympian who made the switch from alpine skiing to cycling just three years ago to great success. She also competes in road cycling at the Paralympic level.
The feat of winning 11 track world medals, including four world titles, is not lost on the 25-year-old.
“It’s a pretty crazy number,” Pemble said. “It’s something that starting cycling I never thought would come so quickly. It’s just a really cool feeling … it still feels kind of like early in my cycling career.”
Since 2023, Pemble has trained at the velodrome in Bromont, Que., with Sébastien Travers, the national team coach for Canada’s Para cyclists. Travers has seen her reach a new level in her time at the national facility located about an hour southeast of Montreal.
“The level of commitment since she has moved to Bromont has changed. Definitely the level of maturity that she’s gained, as well as an athlete, but as a person has also evolved,” Travers told CBC Sports.
Different mental approach
That maturity and the experience Pemble has gained along the way made for a different mindset at this year’s worlds. She said she felt a lot calmer this time around, a new approach that ended up paying off.
“With L.A. being my next big Games goal, it’s a very comforting feeling to know that success can happen even with all the pressure that I’ve had to work through in the past, like the 2023 and 2024 world championships where I wasn’t so calm on race day,” Pemble said.
“To have this recent success while also being this relaxed is an extra bonus.”
Along with the sprint crown, Pemble won silver medals in the C3 elimination and one-kilometre time trial, and bronze in the scratch race.
While Pemble left her first Paralympics without a medal, she certainly made her mark. Pemble set a world and Paralympic record in the C3 category with a time of 38.512 seconds during the time trial qualifying stage.
New goals for L.A. 2028
And now having turned the page on her fourth-place disappointment, Pemble has a renewed excitement as she pursues new horizons. The time trial was her lone track event in Paris, but things are shaping up to be different in 2028, thanks to an overhauled training regimen focused more on endurance.
“When L.A. comes around, it is a possibility that I can be targeting four out of the five events instead of just one, which is a daunting feeling, but also very exciting,” Pemble said. “It feels definitely different to be able to go after more … it feels like it’s opened a lot more doors.”
Travers has a plan in place, saying they are aiming towards a non-factored event in L.A. that would see her compete against athletes in the same impairment class.
For context, her world-record qualifying time in Paris still wouldn’t have been enough to secure a medal in the final. Despite posting the fastest raw time among the six finalists, all three medallists had time reductions based on their higher level of impairment as C1 and C2 cyclists.
The new training strategy is a massive shift, with Travers saying they “overhauled almost everything.”
“Think of Usain Bolt moving from the 100 metres towards running the 1,500 … that’s the kind of change we’re looking at,” he said.
But Pemble’s sports journey has always been characterized by change, and she has shown time and time again that she can thrive in new territory.
