It's perhaps the only time a wedding anniversary celebration takes a back seat.

Instead of opting for an exotic locale or a lush retreat, Uwe and Andrea Glaesser found themselves glued to a TV set in a Kamloops hotel room last Saturday.

The images staring back at them showed their 20-year-old daughter Jasmin on the other side of the world - London, to be exact - winning a bronze medal in team pursuit.

"It was very stressful. We were cheering, we were screaming, but then we were very excited," Andrea said in an interview Wednesday. "But it's been incredible since then. We have emails and voicemails coming in from all over the world."

Competing alongside teammates Tara Whitten and Gillian Carleton, Jasmin's third-place finish came in a time of 3: 17.915, narrowly besting the Australian side to secure Canada's first medal in team pursuit.

The Canadians had to overcome a lackluster fourth-place finish in the qualifying round one night earlier, but used the following 24 hours to analyze, re-fresh and re-focus.

The result saw the Canadians pull ahead of the Aussies in the second half of the race to claim third behind the secondplace Americans and championship winning squad from Great Britain.

"It's been just phenomenal," Jasmin told The NOW in an interview from London Thursday morning. "I've been to the world championships and I've been to the Pan American Games, but I never thought my racing here would have that much of an impact and that I'd get this amount of support. The reception from back home and from other Canadians over here has been the most special part of the whole experience."

In winning bronze, Jasmin has challenged the notion that experience is everything.

Just four years removed from initially taking up the sport, Jasmin has only been teamed up with her Canadian counterparts since an Olympic test event earlier this year.

"She was always driven in whatever she did," Andrea said.

"At school she's always been competitive, so it came very natural to her that she was very competitive at sports as well. It's just in her to compete at things she loves to do."

After February's test event, Jasmin and her teammates relocated to Los Angeles to begin an intensive training regimen in attempt to gain equal footing with other cycling teams that have been together for years.

"It was definitely a struggle for us to be smooth as a group and to be really cohesive," she said. "Looking back at some of our races in February, it's amazing to see the improvement we've made even in that time."

As for the her next competitive step, Jasmin has options: train for the upcoming track season, or perhaps focus on a burgeoning road racing career that saw her capture the under-23 Canadian time trial championship in June.

But for now, the focus is on home.

Slated to return to Canada on Monday, Aug. 13, the homecoming will truly live up to its namesake, as the Terry Fox grad hasn't been home since April. In fact, she's only slept in her own bed 10 times this year.

"I'm really excited just to have some time at home with my family and my friends," she said.

TIMKO WINS BRONZE IN WOMEN'S SOCCER

Coquitlam's Brittany Timko did a little Canadian trailblazing of her own this week as well.

Timko and her Canadian women's soccer team defeated France 1-0 Thursday to claim the nation's first Summer Games medal in a traditional team sport since 1936.

The contest was decided late in injury time during the second half, when Ontario native Diane Matheson netted the game winner in the 92nd minute.

The Canadians were under a barrage of French attacks throughout the entire match, with a series of second-half attempts finding goal posts and crossbars. A ball cleared from the Canadian goal line by Desiree Scott also helped to preserve the deadlock and gave Canada life.

Thursday's win came just three days after the devastating, last-minute 4-3 loss to the U.S. in injury time on Monday. Having appeared in more than 100 games for Canada, Timko and her club began the tourney with a 2-1 loss to Japan, before rebounding with a 3-1 win over South Africa. From there, the team tied Sweden 2-2 and defeated Great Britain 2-0.

NYHAUG BOUNCED FROM BMX IN QUARTERFINALS

Despite a remarkable comeback from yet another devastating injury, Coquitlam's Tory Nyhaug failed to advance through to the semifinal portion of the BMX competition.

Nyhaug narrowly bowed out of Thursday's quarterfinals, placing fifth in his heat after accumulating 20 points through five runs, one of which saw him crash on the 450-metre track.

The 20-year-old, who suffered a ruptured spleen and broken wrist in May, needed a top-four placement to advance through to today's (Friday) semifinals.

sports@thenownews.com