N.B. Para cyclist looks back on gold medal he won 13 years after life-changing injury

Alexandre Hayward knew as he pedalled along the cobblestone streets of Ronse, Belgium, that he was going to have a time trial to be proud of.

"I've had a really good year," the New Brunswicker said. "I knew I was in really good shape, and I knew this year, more than any, [there] was definitely a possibility to win."

The 28-year-old from Quispamsis was at the top of his game going into the international competition on Aug. 29, despite dealing with a sore back and a bad night's sleep the night before.

"I was pretty confident I was going to be on the podium — and then, when I came through the finish, I heard it on the loudspeaker."

Hayward had just won the time-trial gold medal at the men's C3 Para cycling world championships.

The feeling?

"It's just extremely cool," said Hayward, a smile creeping onto his face as he looked back on the race. "It's hard to put into words, honestly."

From unable to walk to crossing the finish line: N.B. cyclist becomes world champion

The 23.2-kilometre time trial, a race in which the athletes compete against the clock individually, took Hayward only 30 minutes and six seconds.

But he'd spent three years preparing for the race, after first taking up Para cycling during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"I kind of went to the bike, like a lot of people did during the pandemic, and things snowballed quite quickly from there," he said. 

But Hayward's route to the world title had its origins in something that happened much earlier.

In 2012, when he was in Grade 9, he was an up-and-coming Quismpamsis hockey player taking part in a tournament in Quebec City and thinking a lot about the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"You know, we were starting to talk about QMJHL drafts and things like that," Hayward said.