Olympics Times – Sports Daily

The city of Madison and the surrounding area, home to three major bicycle companies, will serve as the cycling hub for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in the event Chicago is chosen as the host city.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle Friday announced the selection by the Chicago 2016 Committee, which is organizing Chicago’s bid for the 2016 games.
“Not only is Madison a great place to live, it’s the nation’s premier area for bike riding,” Doyle said. “I am pleased that the Chicago 2016 Committee has chosen Madison to be its cycling hub and can’t wait for people from around the world to discover our beautiful region.”
To select an ideal venue, the bid committee worked collaboratively with cycling experts, Olympic athletes and the International Cycling Union (UCI) to select courses that are technically challenging and conducive to high-level competition.
The Wisconsin Road Cycling Course would begin on the campus of the University of Wisconsin, head east through downtown and feature several steep climbs near the finish line in Blue Mound State Park. The Wisconsin Mountain Bike circuit would take place in Tyrol Basin, a popular ski and snowboard destination in the winter that makes for a technically challenging course that meets the needs of the athletes while allowing for a great spectator experience during the Games, state officials said.
Doyle said Madison has one of the most extensive bike trail systems in the United States. Pacific Cycle, Trek and Saris, three of the cycling industry’s leading companies, are based in the Madison area.
Chicago is competing against Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid for the right to host the 2016 Olympics. The four candidate cities have until Feb. 12 to submit their plans to the International Olympic Committee. The final decision on the host city will be made by the full IOC membership on Oct. 2 during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen.

source. bizjournals.com

Speaking to the Guardian, Wiggins admitted that he had been struggling to give his all in the event after winning gold in the individual and team pursuits, and the pair finished only eighth despite being reigning World Champions.
Wiggins said: “Cav is like my little brother and I love him dearly. But we left the stadium without saying a word to each other and we’ve yet to speak.”
The Belgium-born cyclist, who also won gold, silver and bronze in Athens, admits the result in Beijing was a shock to both of them.
“We should have been good enough to win the Madison but in the past I’ve always been the leader so it was weird when the roles were reversed.

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The Track cycling events of Beijing Paralympic Games ended in Laoshan Velodrome here on Wednesday when Britain took three more golds to prove its domination with a total of 12 titles.
Sarah Storey stormed back in the women’s individual pursuit of LC1-2/CP4 category to take the gold medal in a new LC1 world record of three minutes and 36.637 seconds. She ripped four seconds off the record she set in the qualifications to snatch the title from Jennifer Schuble of United States by centimeters.

Schuble needed to match the CP4 world record she made in the qualifying rounds to beat Storey but crossed the line just 0.2 second off the pace and had to settle for the silver. She had been crowned in women’s 500 metres time trial of LC1-2/CP4 class.

“This Paralympics is really a tough game,” said Storey. “So it was difficult for me to take gold or to break the records. I’m satisfied with myself as I did both.”

“I’m satisfied with this result, too,” said Schuble. “I got two medals at this Paralympics, and got two best times I never had. I rode as fast as I could.”

“I felt much pressure. Storey and the British team never failed. And I also felt pressure from cheering spectators, teammates and my coach. I felt pressure from everywhere,” said Schuble. “But I achieved my goal and did my best.”
China was guaranteed a bronze with the third place being fought out between Dong Jingping and Ye Yaping, both in LC2 class, and Dong duly edged out her compatriot racing as full five seconds faster.

In men’s sprint of B&VI class, British Anthony Kappes won gold with pilot Barney Storey, edging Aussie Ben Demery and pilot Shaun Hopkins after two straight wins in the best of three race final. It was Kappes’ second after he took title in men’s 1km time trial on Monday, in which he also beat Demery.

“We have had a good battle with them for three years,” said silver medallist Demery. “They have come on the top every time. They are great bike riders, and the British team got a great programme. They ride very well, so I think the best thing is to catch them up one day.”

Team Britain also seized the title of men’s team sprint of LC1-4/CP3-4 category with three gold-medallists Mark Bristow, Jody Cundy and Darren Kenny. They defeated host Chinese team of Zhang Kuidong, Zhang Lu and Zheng Yuanchao in a three-lap final with an advantage of only one second.

Bristow was gold medallist in men’s LC1 1km time trial and Cundy won LC2 time trial while Kenny was winner in CP3 individual pursuit and 1km time trial. They all set world records in their respective events.

“We really enjoy the matches,” said Cundy. “The entire Britain team are happy with what we did. It is out of our expectation.”

American Barbara Buchan was the only non-British gold winner on Wednesday. She came home first by a margin of 2.316 seconds to spoil the day for Natalie Simanowski of Germany in women’s individual pursuit of LC3-4/CP3 class.

Simanowski was racing to go one better than the silver she took in 500m time trial but had to make do with another silver. She was fastest on the track but with the times adjusted with respect their disability levels, Buchan had the edge.

“It’s my honour to win gold and I’m so pleased,” said Buchan. “Though Simanowski is much younger than me, I think I am a good athlete.”

Britain topped the medal standings with 13 medals, 12 of which are golds. Australia also clinched three gold, four silver and six bronze medals. China ranked third with 0-3-3 in the track cycling events.

Paralympic cyclists carry on gold rush, setting world records

Five world records fell at the cycling track on the second day of the Beijing Paralympics here on Monday.

American Jennifer Schuble blitzed the Laoshan Velodrome to secure the first cycling gold for the United States, setting a new world record of the CP4 class in the women’s 500m time trial.
“It is the best time since I ever ride 500 (500 metres time trial). I feel super strong and very stable. It is a perfect track for me and very smooth…people were cheering for me,” said the 32-year-old.
“The Chinese did a good job today. I felt great pressure from them and I admire them a lot,” she said of silver and bronze medallists Ye Yaping and Dong Jingping, who added the first two medals for the host.
“I did my personal best in the competition today. The silver is satisfactory,” said Ye, who broke the world record of the LC2 class.
In the women’s 500m time trial (LC3-4/CP 3), New Zealand cyclist Paula Tesoriero tumbled heavily to the track after setting a new world record of LC3 class at 43.281 seconds. But she came back strong on the top podium to receive the first-ever Paralympic gold for her country.
“It really hurts, but happiness of success makes me feel much better, and even let me forget the pain,” said a smiling Tesoriero.
Her rival Aussie Jayme Paris, the bronze medallist, refreshed the world record of the CP3 class at 44.490 seconds.
British Anthony Kappes and his pilot Barney Storey scooped gold at men’s 1km time trial, breaking their previous world record.
“There are so much training to win the gold medal. Teamates, families and friends, all these people support you. You know it is for all of these people,” said the 35-year-old Kappes.
Michael Gallagher from Australia and Jiri Jezek from the Czech Republic snatched gold medals in men’s 4km individual pursuit of the LC1 and LC2 classes, respectively.
So far, Britain and Australia have collected four and three gold medals out of ten at the Paralympic cycling.

Olympic pursuit king Bradley Wiggins seems more than ready for the challenge of equaling a 100-year-old British record when he aims for a third gold medal in Tuesday’s Madison here at the velodrome.
But the 27-year-old Londoner hasn’t even thought about the fact that in doing so, he will become the most decorated Olympic cyclist ever.
Wiggins’ bid for a third gold in Beijing could be the hardest he faces during a campaign that has seen him take his gold tally to three for a total of six since his Olympic debut in Sydney.
If Wiggins and Madison partner Mark Cavendish win the Madison, Wiggins will become the first British athlete to win three gold medals at a single Games since swimmer Henry Cotton took triple gold at London Games in 1908.
Minutes later, Wiggins’ feat could be quickly emulated by Scotland’s Chris Hoy, if he makes it through the final and triumphs.
But if Wiggins wins just a medal, it will be his seventh – and allow him to surpass American Burton Downing’s all-time Olympic track cycling medal haul of six, all won at the St. Louis Games in 1904.
Already happy to help Britain smash their own world record on their way to Britain’s first team pursuit gold in 100 years on Monday, Wiggins will now brush down his Madison bike in a bid for a third.
“At this stage, it’s got to be gold,” said Wiggins, whose stamina and endurance have been pushed hard in recent days, and will be pushed to another level in the chaotic 50km Madison.
“But we’ll see, the Madison is the hardest of the lot. You can have a crash early, anything can happen.
“We’ll be strong, we’re world champions. We just have to play it right and make sure we don’t lose a lap early on like we did at the world championships.”
It was at the world championships in Manchester that Wiggins last used a Madison bike, as opposed to the speed machines he uses for the pursuit events.
Cavendish arrived a few days ago for his only race at the Olympics. After after a stunning Tour de France campaign, where he made some history by winning four stages, the Manxman is apparently itching to go.
“I haven’t even touched my Madison bike since the worlds, so I better get that out of the bag,” added Wiggins, who admitted he had less sleep on Sunday night than he would have liked.
“Cav woke me up this morning just messing around the apartment and making noise. He’s running around like a school kid! But he’s up for it.
“We’ll have a game plan going into it, but we’ll be ready firing for gold.”
Britain’s gold medal haul stood at five from seven events and nine from a total of 21 at the close of play on Monday.
And Wiggins believes Cavendish’s sprint legs and his pursuiting will combine to add more.
“We’re doing 70km/h there (in the team pursuit), there’s not many people who are going to go faster than that in the Madison,” he added.
“The training we do for that is all sprint-intensive. It worked at the worlds, and we’ve never had a problem in the past in Madison.”

from: afp.google.com

Britain’s Rebecca Romero made Olympic history here Sunday when she became just the second woman to claim medals in two different sports at the summer Games.

England’s Romero dominated an all-British track cycling individual pursuit final to leave Wendy Houvenaghel of Northern Ireland with the silver medal after posting a winning time of three minutes 28.32 seconds for the three-kilometre event.

Lesya Kalitovska of the Ukraine defeated New Zealand’s Alison Shanks to win the bronze medal.

Romero’s was the first Olympic gold medal for Britain in the event, and came a day after Bradley Wiggins successfully defended his individual pursuit crown in the men’s four-kilometre race.

Romero’s win, five months after her maiden world title, meant Britain had now claimed an impressive four gold medals from five of what will utlimately be a total of 10 finals.

British riders have also now won eight of the 15 medals up for grabs so far.

Romero, who won an Olympic rowing silver four years ago in the women’s quadruple sculls, follows in the footsteps of Roswitha Krause of the former East Germany.

Krause won a swimming silver at the 1968 Games in Mexico from the women’s 4×100m relay, then won silver in the women’s handball final at the 1976 Games in Montreal and handball bronze at Moscow in 1980.

The 28-year-old Romero admitted there was no way she was settling for silver this time.

“I’d have been absolutely crushed if I got the silver,” said Romero, who only took up cycling seriously in 2006 after giving up rowing due to a recurring back problem.

“It’s taken for me to come into cycling to realise my full athletic potential,” she added.

Houvenaghel only took up cycling six years ago, but won world championship bronze in the individual pursuit and gold in the non-Olympic team event at Manchester in March.

Formerly an amateur cross0country runner, she discovered a talent for time-trialling in 2002 not long after she had run the London Marathon for the first time in April of that year.

Although being pushed into road time-trialling by her cycling enthusiast husband, she was inspired to take up track cycling after she saw Scotland’s Chris Hoy win gold in the kilometre at Athens in 2004.

Romero set out to make up for her “disappointing” silver rowing medal from Athens in defiant fashion.

Although Houvenaghel led over the first couple of laps of the 250-metre track, the Northern Irishwoman was soon playing catch-up.

Romero led after the first kilometre, and held her pace over the next four laps to virtually seal the gold. Houvenaghel raced a faster third lap but by then it was too late.

The 33-year-old Houvenaghel finished just over two seconds behind and, even as Romero screamed out in joy as she brandished a Union Jack flag, still had a huge smile on her face.

from: afp.google.com

Samuel Sanchez of Spain took the gold medal in the Olympic cycling men’s road race on Saturday, winning a sprint finish of six riders at the end of a grueling course.
Davide Rebellin of Italy, who had attacked regularly throughout the day, took silver on his 37th birthday. Time-trial world champion Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won the bronze.
The conditions were hot and humid, and more than 30 riders abandoned the race before the end.
“It was just a real war of attrition on Saturday,” said Michael Rogers of Australia, who lost out in the sprint and finished sixth.
The extremely strong Spanish and Italian teams worked tirelessly throughout the race to pull back a series of breakaways, but there was no success for defending champion Paolo Bettini of Italy, who came in 18th, 35 seconds back.
Two riders, Patricio Almonacid of Chile and Horacio Gallardo of Bolivia, broke away in the second kilometer and at one point had a lead of more than 15 minutes.
Almonacid held out until five laps from the end but was then caught. Later, Yaroslav Pidgorny of Ukraine and Aliaksandr Kuchynski of Belarus had a try, as did Austrian Christian Pfannberger. All were caught.
The decisive break came in the final lap, when Andy Schleck of Luxembourg took the initiative and was joined by four other men. Only Cancellara was able to bridge the gap between the leaders and the chasing group, and was rewarded with the bronze medal. Schleck had to settle for fifth.

from: indiatimes.com

Spanish track cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno has become the first competitor in Beijing to fail a drugs test.

Moreno, 27, who would have been a rival of Britain’s gold medallist Nicole Cooke, tested positive for the blood-doping agent EPO.

The drugs test was carried out on July 31 and she left Beijing later that day without offering an explanation.

IOC communications director Giselle Davies said: “She was tested in the Village and she had already left China that evening before having had the result.

“The test has come back positive for EPO. The disciplinary commission has ruled that she should be excluded from the Games and have her accreditation withdrawn.”

The IOC have now passed the case to the UCI cycling federation to follow up in terms of imposing a ban.

Reports in Spain last week said the cyclist, also known as Maribel Moreno, had dropped out after suffering an “anxiety attack”.

from: telegraph.co.uk

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia has withdrawn from Thursday’s Olympic Games road time trial because of a knee injury. Evans told reporters in Sydney that he will undergo treatment this week before deciding whether to compete in the Olympic road race.

His spot in the time trial will be filled by three-time world champion Michael Rogers.

The Associated Press reports that Evans injured the knee last Sunday, and that it swelled during an airplane flight to Switzerland on Monday. He has seen a doctor for treatment. “I recognized I might not be at my absolute best in the race against the clock, but I can still make a significant contribution to the team effort for the road race” he said.

from: latimesblogs.latimes.com

Australian cyclist Anna Meares, winner of the 2004 Olympic 500-meter gold medal in track cycling, could miss a chance to defend her title due to a serious race accident.
Meares suffered a fractured neck vertebrae and dislocated shoulder in a crash during a track cycling World Cup meet in Los Angeles nine days ago.
The crash has put her Beijing Olympic selection in jeopardy and forced her out of Australian and world championship meets.
“I realize that I’m pretty lucky with the injuries that I have come away with,” Meares said Tuesday. “The C2 vertebrae, so I have been told, is the one that controls all your breathing and if that goes, so too does your life.”
Meares, who will be sidelined for about six weeks, sits fourth on the World Cup points table, with the top nine granted an Olympic berth.
With two Olympic qualification meetings to come, Meares, 24, could be surpassed by other riders _ meaning she would need an exemption from world cycling’s governing body, the UCI.
The UCI can award wild cards to riders, but only if a pre-qualified cyclist withdraws from the Olympics.
“If I miss out on points, I will have to continue training through and hope the UCI gives me that wild card,” she said.
Australian track cycling head coach Martin Barras said Meares’ Olympic selection “has been taken out of our hands”.
“Where we had control of the selection process, now we don’t anymore,” Barras said.
“Considering the severity of the injuries, we don’t want to mingle with her recovery with any sort of pressure with regards to qualifying or getting back into racing before she is fully ready _ the severity of the neck injury dictates that.”
Meares also suffered torn neck muscles, torn shoulder tendons and bruising in her fall in the kierin final in Los Angeles.
“I remember hitting my head and being in a lot of pain straight away, and the next thing that I remember was being on the bottom of the track being tended to,” she said.
“When it’s explained to you how severe the injury could have been, (I feel) fortunate to walk away with as little as I have got.”

from: chinadaily.com.cn

For the next seven months, American BMX racer Mike Day can train on the Olympic track whenever he wants. All without leaving Southern California.
“It’s surreal,” Day said. “But it’s perfect.” A perfect replica, that is.
USA Cycling and the United States Olympic Committee teamed to build an exact duplicate of the steep, demanding, bumpy-and-jumpy BMX course that’ll be used at the Beijing Games in August. Training at the venue began this week, with the formal ribbon-cutting ceremony set to take place on Monday.
It’s on the grounds of the Olympic Training Center a few miles (kilometers) south of San Diego, not far from the Mexican border.
But to Day and the rest of the American Olympic hopefuls, it’s like training in Beijing’s backyard.
“To us, it’s the greatest thing ever,” Day said. “This is the ideal place for a pro BMX racer, for sure. I think they see a lot of potential and a lot of hope for Beijing. Now it’s on our shoulders to do it. The guys who qualify, we’re already pretty talented, and now we’ll be prepared to the fullest.”
The Americans have no doubt that every nuance of this track, from the steep, 40-foot (12-meter) descent at the start ramp to the type of banked blacktop in the turns, is exactly the same as what was done in Beijing. That’s because the same builder did them both.
When a major cycling organization wants a BMX track built, they call Tom Ritzenthaler, who’s raced for the past 33 years and now is the premier track designer in the world. He built the one in Beijing, and leaves next week for Greece to build that country’s first course.
But only the United States has the replica of the Beijing course.
“It’s almost unfair,” said longtime standout racer Jill Kintner, 26. “It’s a big edge.”
Not that she minds, of course.
It’s not some shady back-room deal that brought this track to Chula Vista; no other nation contacted Ritzenthaler in time to build a training site, although others, including Australia, did inquire about his availability. USA Cycling officials, in a goodwill gesture, are expected to invite other nations to the training center for a brief camp later this year.
“It takes a lot of time and a lot of experience to do this,” said Ritzenthaler, who built the Beijing track for about 3.2 million U.S. dollars (2.2 million euro) but constructed the U.S. replica for considerably less, although no one knows what the final total is exactly.
Much like when snowboarding made its debut on sport’s biggest stage, the U.S. is expected to use BMX as a way of quickly enhancing the medal count.
“That’s kind of the idea, to build a facility at the highest level, and I think the USOC recognized our strength as a country in this sport since we created it back in the 1970s,” said Mike King, the BMX program director for USA Cycling. “This has definitely raised the bar, and I think we’ll see the results come August.”

from: xinhuanet.com 

Theo Bos of Netherlands finished first in the men’s sprint event to contribute another gold to the country, as the Round No. 2 of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics closed here Sunday night.

On the medal rankings, the Neds ranked first with four gold medals and two bronzes. France, Great Britain and Team DSB each grabbed two golds, while China placed in the 20th position with two bronzes.

The race for gold

Theo Bos

There are 376 riders from 44 countries and regions competed in The UCI 2007-2008 Track Cycling World Cup Classics from December 7 to 9. Ten Olympic track cycling events are contested at the three-day competition, including the men’s sprint, team sprint, individual pursuit, team pursuit, Keirin, points race, Madison, and the women’s sprint, individual pursuit and points race. The winners automatically qualify for the next year’s Olympic Games, according to the qualification system.
The third leg of the world cup will be held in Log Angeles from January 18 to 20 and the fourth in Ballerup, Demark from February 15 to 17, 2008.

The race for gold

from: beijing2008.cn (more details and more pictures)

(BEIJING, December 8 ) — Three Olympic qualifying events — the women’s points race, and the men’s team pursuit and Keirin — and four non-Olympic events — women’s 500-meter time trial, team sprint, and the men’s kilometer time trial and scratch race — were contested on the second day of the No. 2 of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in Beijing.
At the nearly built Laoshan Velodrome in western Beijing, the Great Britain won the Olympic berths for men’s team pursuit and keirin events, while the Dutch took the other Olympic qualifying event.

The men’s Keirin event

In the men’s team pursuit, Edward Clancy, Stephen Cummings, Thomas Geraint and Paul Manning of Great Britain beat the New Zealanders in the final to qualify for the 2008 Olympic qualification. In the race for the third place, the Danes did not finish the laps, thus rendering the bronze to their counterparts the Neds.
Reigning world champion Chris Hoy of Great Britain won another Olympic spot for his country as he snatched the gold medal of the men’s Keirin event. The silver medal went to Arnaud Tournant of France and bronze to Teun Mulder of the Netherlands.
In the women’s 20km points race, Dutch cyclist Marianne Vos of Team DSB, who clinched her first gold from the women’s scratch event on Friday, was crowned again with a total score of 12 points. Even though Cuba’s Yoanka Gonzalez Perez shared the same score, Vos had a preferable finish order that gave her, in accordance with the competition rules, the first position in the final placing. The reigning world champion Katherine Bates came in the third place while China’s medal contender Yan Li scored zero points to rank in the 20th position.
In the women’s 500-meter time trial, title favorite Guerra Rodriguez of Cuba powered to a victory in 33.994 seconds, just 0.05 seconds away from the world record of 33.944 seconds. Guerra was also the silver medalist at the Sydney leg of the World Cup one week ago, following world record holder Anna Meares of Austrialia. Simona Krupeckaite from Lithuania placed second in the time trial at 34.447 seconds, while Natallia Tsylinskaya from Belarus took third place at 34.595 seconds.

The women’s team sprint

In the women’s team sprint, Dutch duo Yvonne Hijgenaar-Willy Kanis extended the winning streak on the standings of the world cup, as they edged the French pair of Sandie Clair and Virginie Cueff to snatch a victory of the second leg here with a time of 33.726 seconds. The Neds did grab the gold medal in the event at the world cup opener in Sydney nearly one week ago.
In the men’s kilometer individual time trial, Francois Pervis of France won the title with a time of 1:02.029, followed by Yevgen Bolibrukh of Ukraine in second place and Li Weibao in third.
The gold medal in the men’s scratch went to Michael Friedman of the United States, with Walter Fernando Perez of Argentina second and Tim Mertens of Belgium third. Reigning world champion Kam-Po Wang came in the 18th position.
Ten Olympic track cycling events are contested at the three-day Beijing leg of the World Cup from December 7 to 9, 2007. They are the men’s sprint, team sprint, individual pursuit, team pursuit, Keirin, points race, Madison, and the women’s sprint, individual pursuit and points race. The winners will automatically qualify for the next year’s Olympic Games, according to the qualification system.

from: beijing2008.cn