Back-to-back Olympic watch parties for Orillia mountain bikers

For the second straight morning, family and friends of Orillia’s Holmgren siblings gathered for a watch party at Hardwood Ski and Bike, this time cheering on Gunnar Holmgren as he competed in Monday’s Olympic men’s mountain bike cross-country race.

Gunnar’s 19-year-old sister Isabella finished the women’s cross-country race in 17th place, seven-and-a-half minutes behind Gold Medalist Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of France.

While 25-year-old Gunnar had had loftier expectations for his own Olympic debut, he finished in 30th place with a time of 1 hour, 34 minutes and 57 seconds.

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“The heat was tough,” said Gunnar. “I didn’t have the best legs, but I got 100% out of them, and it was amazing to have a ton of family and friends there cheering for me.”

Like his younger sister, Gunnar also received plenty of cheers at the watch party when he crossed the finish line, as everyone at home was proud of what the two siblings accomplished.

“The anticipation leading up to it [was] surreal,” said Tracey Holmgren. Gunnar and Isabella’s aunt. “You just hope for the best for your kin and to represent Canada well, and they did.”

Tottenham equestrian Karl Slezak also competed for Canada in the Paris Games on Monday. He finished 32nd in the eventing jumping team final.

Gunnar says he will be competing in several other cycling events this summer, including the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra at the end of August.