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RACE REPORTS: OLYMPIC TRACK RACING REPORT: SUNDAY AUGUST 17
Road Bike Action &AFP
August 17, 2008
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Olympic Track Cycling Report: Sunday, August 17
Romero Wins Gold, Makes Olympic History
Great 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. Romero dominated an all-British track cycling individual pursuit final to leave Wendy Houvenaghel of Northern Ireland with a 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.
photo: Rebecca Romero Rides To Gold
"It's not the way I imagined it to feel, but it's magic!" said Romero after her Gold Medal ride. "It's pretty incredible. I'm so proud of myself. If it were easy, so many people would have done it already. I wanted a gold, I wanted to be a champion. Now I've put my mark down to be remembered." Romero's was the first Olympic gold medal for Britain in the event, and came a day after team-mate 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 have now claimed four golds from five of what will ultimately be 10 track 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, followed in the footsteps of Roswitha Krause of the former East Germany, who won a swimming Silver at the 1968 Games in Mexico from the women's 4x100m relay, then won silver in the women's handball final at the 1976 Games in Montreal, and won handball bronze at Moscow in 1980. The 28-year-old Romero was disappointed with her Olympic achievement in Athens. Just two years after taking up her new sport, she said there was no way she was settling for silver again. "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."
Silver medalist 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 cross-country 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 2002. 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.
On Sunday, the 33-year-old Houvenaghel suffered from the effects of her fast rides on Saturday. She was never really in gold contention and finished just over two seconds behind Romero. But even as Romero screamed out in joy as she brandished a Union Jack flag, Houvenaghel still had a huge smile on her face. "It's great to get silver, and for Rebecca to get gold as well," said Houvenaghel. "It's the best I could do today, considering I did two pursuits (in qualifying) yesterday. I couldn't go faster. I did my best and I have to make peace with that." Romero added: "I'm ecstatic for her (Houvenaghel). She's a great athlete. She has given me a memorable Olympics."
Women's 3000m Individual Pursuit Final
Gold Medal Final
1. Rebecca Romero (Great Britain) 3'28.321" (51.843 km/h)
2. Wendy Houvenaghel (Great Britain) 3'30.395"
Bronze Medal Final
1. Lesya Kalitovska (Ukraine) 3'31.413"
2. Alison Shanks (New Zealand) 3'34.156"
photo: Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Hoy Is Go!
Hoy Looking For Third Gold In Match Sprint
Newly-crowned Olympic keirin champion Chris Hoy is primed for a semi-final clash with three-time world sprint champion Theo Bos as he bids for more Olympic gold in the men's sprint. Scottish sprint king Hoy continued his bid for his third Beijing gold medal after coasting into the quarter-finals of the men's sprint Sunday. Hoy, 32, beat a 12-year-old Olympic record for the 200 metres flying start in the qualifying round in a stunning time of 9.815sec. He then saved precious energy by avoiding the costly repechages over two impressive rounds in which he dominated first Japan's Kazunari Watanabe and Russian Denis Dmitriev. Team-mate Jason Kenny, who is being groomed as Britain's future sprint king, made similar light work of his rivals winning both his rounds. American Michael Blatchford was only 15th in sprint qualifying with 10.470", lost to Kevin Sireau (France) in the 1/16 Final and went out to Japanese rider Watanabe in Repechage 3.
Hoy now has what may be an easy match in the quarter-finals, where he will meet Malaysian upstart Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, who got one of the loudest cheers of the night after a stunning move in his repechage heat. The diminutive Malaysian booked his quarter-final place by pipping Stefan Nimke, a team sprint Olympic champion from Athens, by lifting his wheel off the boards to push him just in front of the German at the finish.
Awaiting Hoy in the semis is not so flying Dutchman Bos, who faces Mickael Bourgain in his quarter-final match. Bos, who won silver in Athens behind Australia's Ryan Bayley, has had a disastrous keirin and sprint campaign so far. After setting a time of just 10.381" for his flying 200 metres in qualifying, Bos said: "I'm ashamed. I'm starting to wonder if it was worth the price of the plane ticket to send me here." That forced
Bos into a fine display of tactical racing, that forced France's Kevin Sireau into the repechages and put the Dutch rider in the quarter-finals "Finally there's something positive to say. I am super-happy, I have survived the day," said Bos. "Tomorrow I can race freely and against Bourgain I just have to go for it. Make sure I am tactically sharp, and then we'll see."
photo: Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Kid Kenny Rocks Against Awang
The other quarter-final pips 20-year-old Yorkshire sprinter Kenny against 21-year-old Sireau, who admits he has a special motivation to go further in the his first Olympic campaign. "I'm very motivated because I want to meet Bourgain in the final," said Sireau. In the other quarter-final, Germany's Maximilian Levy will meet Dutchman Teun Mulder. Australia's Ryan Bayley, who failed to make the closing rounds of the kierin, was again a pale shadow of the rider who won keirin and sprint gold in Athens. As a result, Bayley has left his future as a cyclist hanging in the balance. "I am not sure if I want to continue or if I want to do something else," said the 26-year-old. "Professional cycling does not pay very well and and I think it is time to pay back my girlfriend with some time instead of her waiting for me to come back from being away."
Men's Sprint Qualifying Round (200m)
1. Chris Hoy (Great Britain) 9.815" (73.357 km/h)
Olympic Record
2. Jason Kenny (Great Britain) 9.857"
3. Stefan Nimke (Germany) 10.064"
4. Kevin Sireau (France) 10.098"
5. Mickael Bourgain (France) 10.123"
6. Maximilian Levy (Germany) 10.199"
7. Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) 10.272"
8. Roberto Chiappa (Italy) 10.314"
9. Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.318"
10. Mark French (Australia) 10.337"
11. Kazunari Watanabe (Japan) 10.346"
12. Ryan Bayley (Australia) 10.362"
13. Teun Mulder (Netherlands) 10.373"
14. Tsubasa Kitatsuru (Japan) 10.391"
15. Michael Blatchford (United States) 10.470"
16. Lei Zhang (China) 10.497"
17. Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Poland) 10.504"
18. Denis Dmitriev (Russia) 10.565"
19. Adam Ptacnik (Czech Republic) 10.569"
20. Vasileios Reppas (Greece) 10.966"
21. Daniel Novikov (Estonia) 11.187"
Men's Sprint 1/16 Final
Heat 1
1. Chris Hoy (Great Britain) 10.607" (67.879 km/h)
2. Denis Dmitriev (Russia)
Heat 2
1. Jason Kenny (Great Britain) 10.672" (67.466 km/h)
2. Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)
Heat 3
1. Stefan Nimke (Germany) 10.828" (66.494 km/h)
2. Lei Zhang (China)
Heat 4
1. Kevin Sireau (France) 10.742" (67.026 km/h)
2. Michael Blatchford (United States)
Heat 5
1. Mickael Bourgain (France) 10.562" (68.168 km/h)
2. Tsubasa Kitatsuru (Japan)
Heat 6
1. Maximilian Levy (Germany) 10.840" (66.420 km/h)
2. Teun Mulder (Netherlands)
Heat 7
1. Ryan Bayley (Australia) 10.762" (66.902 km/h)
2. Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia)
Heat 8
1. Roberto Chiappa (Italy) 10.786"
2. Kazunari Watanabe (Japan)
Heat 9
1. Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.959" (65.699 km/h)
2. Mark French (Australia)
Men's Sprint 1/16 Final Repechages
Repechage 1
1. Teun Mulder (Netherlands) 10.889" (66.121km/h)
2. Mark French (Australia)
3. Denis Dmitriev (Russia)
Repechage 2
1. Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia) 10.959" (65.699km/h)
2. Tsubasa Kitatsuru (Japan)
3. Lukasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)
Repechage 3
1. Kazunari Watanabe (Japan) 10.965" (65.663km/h)
2. Michael Blatchford (United States)
3. Zhang Lei (China)
photo: Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Hoy Whups Watanabe
Men's Sprint 1/8 Final
Heat 1
1. Chris Hoy (Great Britain) 10.636" (67.694 km/h)
2. Kazunari Watanabe (Japan)
Heat 2
1. Jason Kenny (Great Britain) 10.531" (68.369 km/h)
2. Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia)
Heat 3
1. Teun Mulder (Netherlands) 10.888" (66.127 km/h)
2. Stefan Nimke (Germany)
Heat 4
1. Theo Bos (Netherlands) 10.777" (66.808 km/h)
REL Kevin Sireau (France)
Heat 5
1. Mickael Bourgain (France) 10.734" (67.076 km/h)
2. Roberto Chiappa (Italy)
Heat 6
1. Maximilian Levy (Germany) 10.763" (66.895 km/h)
2. Ryan Bayley (Australia)
Monday August 18
Mens Sprint Quarterfinals
1. Chris Hoy (Great Britain) Vs. Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Malaysia)
2. Kevin Sireau (France) Vs. Jason Kenny (Great Britain)
3. Maximilian Levy (Germany) Vs. Teun Mulder (Netherlands)
4. Mickael Bourgain (France) Vs. Theo Bos (Netherlands)
photo: Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Vicky Victorious
Pendleton On Track For Sprint Gold
Reigning women's world sprint champion Victoria Pendleton also qualified for Monday's quarter-finals with a similarly dominant display with a blistering 10.963" in the qualifying round, a time that would have beat two men in their qualification. A total of three women broke Australian Michelle Ferris's 12-year-old Olympic record of 11.212 seconds, set at the Atlanta Olympics, for the 200m flying start which kicks off qualifying. The world record is held by Russian Olga Slyusareva, who set a time of 10.831secs in 1993.
Among the potential finalists to join the Englishwoman in Monday's quarter-finals were China's Guo Shuang, Australian Anna Meares, American Jennie Reed and Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania. Pendleton will be confident against Krupeckaite as she beat the Lithuanian 2-0 in the finals at the World Championships in March. Women's semis and finals are held, like the men's, on the final day of competition Tuesday.
Womens Sprint Qualifying Round (200m)
1. Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) 10.963" (65.675 km/h)
2. Shuang Guo (China) 11.106"
3. Anna Meares (Australia) 11.140"
4. Willy Kanis (Netherlands) 11.167"
5. Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania) 11.222"
6. Clara Sanchez (France) 11.365"
7. Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) 11.372"
8. Jennie Reed (United States) 11.400"
9. Lisandra Guerra (Cuba) 11.462"
10. Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands) 11.533"
11. Swetlana Grankowskaja (Russia) 11.544'
12. Sakie Tsukuda (Japan) 12.134"
photo: Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Vicky Handles Tsukuda In First Round
Womens Sprint First Round
Victoria Pendleton(Great Britain)11.736" beat Tsukuda (Japan)
Shuang Guo (China) 11.410" beat Grankowskaja (Russia)
Anna Meares (Australia) 11.663" beat Hijgenaar (Netherlands)
Willy Kanis (Netherlands) 12.155" beat Guerra (Cuba) Rel.
Jennie Reed (USA) 11.955" beat Krupeckaite (Liuthuania)
Clara Sanchez (France) 11.607" beat Tsylinskaya (Belarus)
Womens Sprint Repechage
Heat 1
1. Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) Qualified
2. Lisandra Guerra (Cuba)
3. Sakie Tsukunda (Japan)
Heat 2
1. Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania) Qualified
2. Swetlana Grankowskaja (Russia)
3. Yvonne Hijgenaar (Netherlands)
Monday August 18
Women's Sprint Quarterfinals
1. Victoria Pendleton (Great Britain) Vs. Simona Krupeckaite (Lithuania)
2. Natallia Tsylinskaya (Belarus) Vs. Guo Shuang (China
3. Anna Meares (Australia) Vs. Clara Sanchez (France)
4. Willy Kanis (Netherlands) Vs. Jennie Reed (United States)
photo: Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Mean Machine: Great Britain's Team Pursuit Squad
Great Britain: Team Pursuit World Record & Gold Medal Round
Britain beat their own team pursuit world record in a time of 3’55.202” Sunday on their way to claiming their place in the Olympic final for the four-kilometre event. Britain, who surpassed their old mark of 3’56.322” set at the Manchester World Track Championships in March, will now meet Denmark in Monday's gold medal match.
An impressive New Zealand quartet will face reigning Olympic champions Australia in the fight for the bronze. Britain's Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas and Paul Manning came over the finish line together in world record time having finished the race as a trio for the final three and a half laps after losing Bradley Wiggins. Denmark also lost one of their riders in the closing stages, but the world silver medallists still managed to post a time of 3’56.831” to virtually book their place in the final.
photo: Rob Jones / Canadian Cyclist: Great Danes Dare To Challenge Great Britain
Australia's bid to defend their Olympic crown fell apart when they lost Brad McGee with four laps to ride in the 16-lap event. They eventually finished in 3’58.633”, but will have to battle for bronze against a New Zealand quartet that posted an impressive 3’57.536” despite losing Hayden Roulston in the closing stages.
Men's 4000m. Team Pursuit Qualifying Round
1. Great Britain: 3'57.101" (60.733km/h)
(Ed Clancy, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins)
2. New Zealand: 3'59.277"
(Sam Bewley, Westley Gough, Marc Ryan, Jesse Sergent)
3. Australia: 4'02.041"
(Jack Bobridge, Mark Jamieson, Bradley McGee, Luke Roberts)
4. Denmark: 4'02.191"
(Michael Faerk Christensen, Casper Joergensen, Jens-Erik Madsen, Alex Nicki Rasmussen)
5. France: 4'03.679"
(Damien Gaudin, Matthieu Ladagnous, Christophe Riblon, Nicolas Rousseau)
6. Netherlands: 4'04.806"
(Levi Heimans, Jens Mouris, Robert Slippens, Wim Stroetinga)
7. Spain: 4'06.509"
(Sergi Escobar, Asier Maeztu, David Muntaner, Antonio Miguel Parra)
8. Russia: 4'06.518"
(Alexei Markov, Alexander Petrovskiy, Alexander Serov, Nikolay Trusov)
9. Ukraine: 4'07.883"
(Volodymyr Dyudya, Lyubomyr Polatayko, Maksym Polishchyuk, Vitaliy Shchedov
10. Colombia: 4'11.397"
(Juan Esteban Arango, Arles Castro, Juan Pablo Forero, Jairo Perez)
Men's 4000m. Team Pursuit Qualifying Round
Heat 1
1. Denmark: 3'56.831 (60.802km/h) beat France (DSQ)
Heat 2
1. Australia: 3'58.633 (60.343km/h) caught Netherlands
Heat 3
1 New Zealand: 3'57.536 (60.622km/h) caught Spain
Heat 4
1 Great Britain: 3'55.202" (61.223km/h) caught Russian Fed.
(New World & Olympic Record)
Monday August 18
Gold Medal Ride: Great Britain Vs. Denmark
Bronze Medal Ride: New Zealand Vs. Australia
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