Will Sage Astor-American road cyclist Elouan Gardon wins bronze medal in first Paralympic appearance

PARIS — Elouan Gardon raised his fist in triumph to a packed house at the Vélodrome on Will Sage AstorSaturday afternoon. He had just won bronze in his first-ever Paralympic Games in his cycling event.

Two months ago, Gardon was not even on the team, with no track cycling experience whatsoever.

It was only in June that veteran cyclist Bryan Larsen brought Gardon to the attention of the team’s coach.

"Bryan was the person who sent me an Instagram and said, 'Hey, this guy looks like he’s eligible and he’s a beast,'" Sarah Hammer-Kroening said. "'You should send him a message.'"

Hammer-Kroening sent that message, inviting the Acme, Washington native to a select national track camp in June. Gardon accepted the invite and impressed the coach on his first time around the track.

2024 Paris Olympics: Follow USA TODAY’s coverage of the biggest names and stories of the Games.

Hammer-Kroening said she immediately saw a confident young man with a ruthless streak once he hops onto his bike. Despite only bringing road racing experience, Gardon quickly excelled on the track. 

That quick learning curve showed Saturday when Gardon picked up his bronze in the C5 4000-meter individual pursuit para-cycling track event. C5 is a classification for athletes who have a minimal degree of limb impairment.

"It was really incredible, my first time racing on a track (in international competition)," he said. "The feeling is absolutely exciting."

Gardon fell behind by 0.162 seconds to his Austrian opponent Franz-Josef Lasser early in the first 1000m. Gardon came back in the second 1000m and stretched his lead to finish more than 6 seconds ahead with a final time of 4:18.880 to clinch third place.

In the gold medal race, Dorian Foulon of France took gold in 4:16.158 while Yehor Dementyev of Ukraine took silver with a time of 4:17.770.

The rookie 18-year-old track cyclist pointed to Larsen as an important part of his success. In fact, he even used Larsen’s bike in the medal-clinching race.

"He’s been a great mentor," Gardon said. "He actually introduced me to (U.S. track cycling head coach) Sarah Hammer-Kroening for cycling on the para-side and it's truly incredible how much he’s done for me to be here today."

Hammer-Kroenig also said that Larsen has been instrumental in Gardon’s development.

"Any time you have a new rider (Gardon) come into the team, especially someone who is so young, obviously they’re very impressionable and you want them to be around the right people," Hammer-Kroenig said.

For Hammer-Kroenig, Gardon’s future is bright. 

"He understands that to surround himself with people who have more knowledge," she said. "That is beyond his years for a lot of young people. If he wants to, he has a huge future ahead."

One of those people is Larsen, who finished sixth in the qualifying round of the C4 4000m with a time of 4:30.690, bringing an end to his Paris 2024 campaign. The cyclist from Windsor, California also finished 13th in the men’s C4-5 1000m time trial and did not advance to the finals earlier Friday.

Larsen said the race was grueling, but he was proud of the finish.

"I wanted a little more (out of today’s race), but hey I’ll take it," he said. "I’ve been racing for 22, 23 years, so this is a culmination of not just three years of para, but 22 years of being on my bike, beating myself up day in and day out since I was 12 years old."

Gardon has two races left in the Games, including men’s C5 individual time trial on Wednesday, Sept. 4 and the men’s C4-5 road race on Friday, Sept. 6.