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63| O akville B eaver | T hursday,M ay 17,2018 insidehalton.com with him. Just showing that belief, it was an ac- knowledgement of my po- tential." For close to a decade, Whitfield would serve as motivation for Jones while he in turn helped push Whitfield. At the 2010 Ca- nadian championships, Whitfield edged Jones by two tenths of a second to win for the ninth straight year. Jones' determination showed in battling though pain in his leg the follow- ing season. It would turn out to be a kinked artery cutting off blood flow to his left leg. It was a condition that left his medical team wondering how he ran much less competed at an international level. He came back strong the following year and a month before the Olym- pics, won his first World Cup race in Edmonton and his first national champi- onship. His 25th place finish at the Olympics only fuelled Jones more to get back in four years time. But he would face more than his share of challenges. He would have another chance to showcase his ability on home soil at the Pan Am Games in Toronto. He had finished fourth at the previous two Pan Am Games and he won the test event in Toronto the year before the Games. Though he broke a bone in his back in a bike crash early in the season, he was confident he could earn a medal, if not win. Jones was riding in the lead group in the bike por- tion of the race when an- other rider hit a traffic cone, sending it flying into Jones' front wheel. "And it not only flies in- to my wheel, but it hits the valve stem. I'm going like 45 km/h and my wheel is spinning at however many revolutions and it hits the valve stem. What are the odds?" The Olympics were still on the horizon, and Jones bounced back from the flat tire in the Pan Am Games to win medals in the final two World Cup races of the season. He kicked off the important 2016 campaign with a top-10 finish in Abu Dhabi. Based on the selection criteria set, Jones had the inside track on an Olympic spot. But three months lat- er, he was left off the team. Jones said personnel changes in Triathlon Can- ada led to a late change in the selection process. "Two weeks before someone else comes in and writes his own selection criteria. As an athlete you want to know, it's this race and he beat me, you can sleep well. You have to give the power to the athletes." Jones had already planned to retire after the Olympics and though his last race wasn't the one he expected it to be, he now looks back fondly on his career and the friends he's made over the year. "A lot of people would say, 'Wow, you've had a lot of bad luck,' but that's just the reality of sport. It can be very unfair and unfor- giving," Jones said. "It can be easy to feel sorry for yourself, but you've just got to get back on the horse and push through and you'll come through on the other side." Jones has made it through, and is ready to pursue a new aspect of the sport that has given him so much. OLYMPICS Jones looks back fondly on his experiences Kyle Jones celebrates his first World Cup victory in Edmonton in 2012. ARNOLD LIM lContinued from page 62