Lauriane Genest

Biography

Within just a couple of years of her introduction to track cycling, Lauriane Genest has established herself as one of the top sprinters in the world, highlighted by her bronze medal in the keirin during her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. She also finished eighth in the sprint during her first Olympic Games. 

After racing as a junior at the 2016 Canadian Championships, Genest won elite national titles in the 500m time trial and team sprint in 2017, while capturing silvers in the sprint and keirin. 

She joined the national team in 2018, which included a trip to her first international competition, the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. She finished fourth in the sprint but called racing in the finals in the Anna Meares Velodrome – named after her idol – the highlight of her short career. She went on to win keirin silver and team sprint bronze at the 2018 Pan American Championships. 

Genest made her UCI World Cup debut on the home velodrome in Milton in October 2018. When she made her UCI World Championship debut later that season, she was the lone Canadian woman in the sprint events. In September 2019, Genest won two gold medals at the Pan American Championships, taking the keirin title as well as the team sprint title alongside Kelsey Mitchell. 

The keirin has become Genest’s strongest individual event. After taking the 2019 national title, it was in that event that she claimed her first World Cup medal, taking silver in Cambridge, New Zealand in December 2019. A month later, she and Mitchell captured gold in the team sprint at the World Cup stop in Milton. 

A Little More About Lauriane

Getting into the Sport: Began road cycling at age 16 before switching to the track a year later where she loves the pure speed and power… Has dreamed of representing Canada in some sport since she was 5… Outside Interests: Supports Fast and Female… Enjoys camping, rock climbing, spending time at the beach, and road cycling in the offseason… Odds and Ends: Would like to one day receive a special invitation to race keirin professionally in Japan where spectators bet on the sport, similar to horse racing… Always wears a necklace given by her family so it feels like they are with her and protecting her… Inspired by Australian Olympian Anna Meares, the most decorated female track cyclist of all time, who she met at the 2018 Commonwealth Games… Favourite motto: Easy Peezy lemon squeezy…