'We're there for each other': Canadian cyclists Mitchell, Genest inseparable in quest to be world's best

They're housemates and with each other 24/7. They do practically everything together — training, racing, travelling, eating and even share the same couch to watch television.

But, as Kelsey Mitchell said with certainty, she and Canadian track cycling teammate Lauriane Genest would not have been friends in high school.

"We're different people but cycling brought us together and we balance each other perfectly. We have each other's back, we're there for each other, and it's special," Mitchell told CBC Sports before Wednesday's final training session ahead of this week's UCI Track Nations Cup at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ont.

A former varsity soccer player with the University of Alberta, the 29-year-old made the transition to track cycling in 2017 after being discovered at an RBC Training Ground event, a program designed to discover young Canadian athletes with Olympic potential. It's where she first encountered Genest.

"We were in a group together and I knew she was a cyclist and wanted to be on the national team," recalled the five-foot-nine Mitchell. "I may have said one thing to her, and she didn't reply. I thought, 'Oh, she doesn't speak English' and she didn't speak super English at the time."

"We were standing side by side and I noticed she was a tall, bigger person," added Genest, who stands five-foot-three. "You could tell she wanted to talk. I'm more on the shy side."

WATCH | Mitchell, Genest lead Canadian track cyclists into Milton event:

What clicked?

"I don't know, she was fun," Mitchell said. "She's different than a lot of my other friends [who] are loud and obnoxious. She's honest and direct where I would avoid conflict and maybe not speak my mind as much."

Genest, 24, joined the national team in 2017 and Mitchell followed a year later. Mitchell better understood how the dynamic of team sports worked while Genest, who started road cycling at age 16 before switching to the track a year later, had an individual sports background growing up in Lévis, Que.

"I think she struggled initially with me getting a little faster and starting to close that gap," Mitchell said. "I tried to tell her we can be No. 1 and 2 in the world. Once that clicked, we were pushing each other every day."

Within two years, Mitchell was a world record-holder, Pan American Games champion and World Cup medallist. She added gold at her 2020 Olympic debut in Tokyo. Genest has also established herself as one of the world's top sprinters, highlighted by her Olympic bronze in Tokyo.

"We were in the final for the keirin. I watched her win the bronze medal and it was a beautiful thing," said Mitchell, who raced Genest in the sprint quarterfinals in Japan. "She won at nationals [in January] and I was stoked for her.

"There's no one I would rather lose to than her. Two Canadians, one and two, is the goal."