2012 Olympics - 1 rider per event

[Anonymous]

UCI has announced that all participating countries will only be allowed one rider per track event in London 2012 Olympic Games

Source: Cycling weekly

 

[ergmonkey]

Well, then I suppose it's a good thing they dropped the Madison.

 

[doddy13]

That sucks. Weak fields... whoop. I'd rather have the same as it has been, and have a more competitive field.

 

[FeralMetal]

This decision will guarantee potential medal winners from Germany,France,Australia,China,Japan,GB,and others will have to stay at home, while also rans in other disciplines will be on the start line.
Track Cycling needs a new governing body to look after it's interests,as the UCI is doing it's best to destroy it. I know it affects everyone,but from a parochial point of view,here in GB, cycling in general has grown strong on the back of the Olympic medals won on the track,being funded by the Lottery.
This funding was directly proportional to the amount of medals won,this will now be drastically reduced,affecting ALL the special projects from the schools up, McQuaid knows this,but when he talks about a level playing field he just bombs it flat ! Think of the effect in France and Germany,with such a minimal chance of going to the Olympics,kids everywhere will take up another sport,investment in velodromes will disappear. Does anybody want to spend a small fortune to watch 12 riders contest the keirin or sprint?? With only 2 years to go to London, riders cannot even think of re-registering with some obscure country to confound the UCI as you need 3 years to do that. McQuaid is an @rsehole.

 

[Big_Blue_Dave]

So the team pursuit will be an individual pursuit after all???

 

[riobonito92]

Someone could get a bronze in the sprint who is not top ten in the world. ALL the top British, French and Australian sprinters should be there.

 

[pmsc111]

This rule at the Beijing Olympics would have denied Jason Kenny, Steven Burke & Wendy Houvenagel a chance of competing individually[and winning medals].

Revised results from recent world championships
1 G Bauge
2 S Perkins
3 R Forstermann[bronze medalist Sireau will not have competed]
4 M Crampton[C Hoy as second highest Brit does not compete]
5 Z Lei
6 A Awang
7 E Dawkins
8 A Vinokurov
9 D Dimitriev
10 D Zielinski
21 C Selzer[10.8 in qualifying, while sub 10 sprinters are denied the opportunity to compete]

 

[avanti]

............ Track Cycling needs a new governing body to look after it's interests,as the UCI is doing it's best to destroy it. ....................

I agree -- also needed at the national level in many countries.

 

[Big GMaC]

so what about 1 swimmer in each swimming event?

no point for the americans bothering apart from phelps if that were the case.

ridiculous.

 

[Anonymous]

Its complete crap.. how can they expect kids to get enthusiastic about track cycling when they havnt got a cat in hells chance of getting to the olympics..

To be honest, i think the UCI are just trying to push cycling as an olympic sport to one side in favour of the world cup/championships etc

 

[D Avoid]

I do hope this is dead in the water and is celebrated as the last Quack Pat Made.

 

[FeralMetal]

I do hope this is dead in the water and is celebrated as the last Quack Pat Made.

He who quacks last quacks loudest (longest?)
Who is it that is really driving this ? McQuaid or Rogge, and who gains most from it? not the NGB's, not the host cities, (less return per $ invested in velodrome,in terms of competition or entertainment) certainly not the athletes.
If the benefit is not transparent and open then it's underhand and covert BUT someone will benefit in some way.

 

[kurtinsc]

so what about 1 swimmer in each swimming event?

no point for the americans bothering apart from phelps if that were the case.

ridiculous.

They used to allow 3 per country in swimming. They knocked it down to 2 because of the 1968 summer olympics. Of the 72 individual medals awarded, the US won 48... or 2/3rds of those offered. They swept the medals in 5 events.


I've always thought in "speed" events that are raced against the clock or measuring tape (swimming, track and field) the top 25 qualifiers in the world should be admitted regardless of country... and any country without a participant after the 25 who has a qualifying time should be allowed one.

They SAY the olympics is not about politics but instead about sport. If that were the case... why should it matter what country the top atheletes in a sport are from in an individual sport.

Obviously that wouldn't work with team sports (basketball/hockey), "judged" sports (figure skating/gymnastics) or "competition" sports where you just try to defeat your opponents rather then put up the best time (road cycling, short track speed skating)... but if it's simply about the time... then give me an olympics with the fastest competitors regardless of the country.


Of course, to be fair I'll admit a friend of mine for the 1996 Olympics had the 14th fastest time in the world that year... but wasn't in the olympics because it was only the 11th fastest time in the US.

 

[Goliath520]

I don't believe its fair that because a country decides to put money into a sport to make it grow and have success in the sport should be essentially punished. Why should a power house country like Great Britain or germany or austrailia put any effort into a sport where they can only send 1 person per event. Why bother to go 9.9 if you can qualify with 10.8? If the competition has to be altered so people that otherwise wouldn't qualify, do, might as well give every one a gold medal and call them the champions of competing.

 

[SlantParallelogram]

Well I suppose you can enter as many events as you want as long as you don't care about losing your UCI license or whatever other penalty they are going to give out.

 

[balena]

what if this rule was inforced for athletics? Imagine only 1 Kenyan and 1 Ethiopian in the 10,000m...

Just look at the number of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners who now compete for another country to ensure they actually get a run in the big races. track racing could end up following the same trend...

 

[simo1733]

Why us

I don't understand why track cycling is being cut back while swimming just gets bigger every Olympics, with the top stars coming away with sack loads of medals.

 

[balena]

Swimming isn't getting bigger; it’s just a sport with many events. The reason swimming isn't getting cut is that it’s considered a traditional sport, like athletics.

I presume your talking about Michael Phelps, who is one of those athletes that'll come along every 50 years. The range of events he's succeeded in is ridiculous. It’s like a track rider winning the Madison, Individual Pursuit, Kieren and Sprint in one outing.

 

[simo1733]

Traditional

They added open water swimming didn't they. And what is traditional about syncro swimming .Was it very popular in ancient Greece.Swimming should not have more medals than any other sport

 

[Anonymous]

They used to allow 3 per country in swimming. They knocked it down to 2 because of the 1968 summer olympics. Of the 72 individual medals awarded, the US won 48... or 2/3rds of those offered. They swept the medals in 5 events.


I've always thought in "speed" events that are raced against the clock or measuring tape (swimming, track and field) the top 25 qualifiers in the world should be admitted regardless of country... and any country without a participant after the 25 who has a qualifying time should be allowed one..

I agree, or basically you end up with a competition where the silver medallist may not be the second fastest in the world

 

[sublimit]

There's no logic behind 1 rider per event. Period.

The World cycling road race is equally ridiculous with single riders up against teams of 9. Not sure about the Olympic roadrace with the amount of riders allowed per team yet so I'm not certain if the administrator's have completely f***ed this event as of yet.

When you add this to the death of olympic 4 K pursuit you have to come the conclusion that UCI, IOC are like a wrecking ball and dumb when it comes to cycle racing.

 

[powerste]

I've always thought in "speed" events that are raced against the clock or measuring tape (swimming, track and field) the top 25 qualifiers in the world should be admitted regardless of country... and any country without a participant after the 25 who has a qualifying time should be allowed one.

Obviously that wouldn't work with team sports (basketball/hockey), "judged" sports (figure skating/gymnastics) or "competition" sports where you just try to defeat your opponents rather then put up the best time (road cycling, short track speed skating)... but if it's simply about the time... then give me an olympics with the fastest competitors regardless of the country.

Exactly - the placings should go to the fastest people in the world. IIRC that's the rationale behind Olympic competition.

He who quacks last quacks loudest (longest?)
Who is it that is really driving this ? McQuaid or Rogge, and who gains most from it? not the NGB's, not the host cities, (less return per $ invested in velodrome,in terms of competition or entertainment) certainly not the athletes.
If the benefit is not transparent and open then it's underhand and covert BUT someone will benefit in some way.

Who made the rule change, with what input from whom? What sports will gain more exposure due to shortened track sessions? Surely there's a better (as in more detailed) explanation than just that the IOC and UCI are each slightly more corrupt than the other? (Which is true of course, but there's gotta be more to it?)

 

[doddy13]

The IOC have nothing to do with the qualification criteria, that is set by the UCI.
The UCI have screwed up the 2012 Olympics.
Who does this affect most? - Britain, Australia, France

 

[DAOTEC]

British cyclist air their frustration over New rules again after Nats

Manchester, England—Sunday, Sep. 26, 2010 10:30AM EDT

British cyclists are frustrated that they will be unable to repeat their Beijing Olympic track domination at home in 2012 as new rules mean they have to “knock the stuffing out of each other” to qualify.

Britons won seven track golds and three silvers at the 2008 Games, as well as two bronzes, but there will be no one-twos in London as countries will be allowed to enter only one competitor in individual events, meaning many top riders could miss out.

"Everyone has made a step forward and we’ve taken a little step back, just to catch our breath,” said Kenny. “Now it feels like we’ve passed the halfway mark and we’re moving forward as opposed to patting ourselves on the back.
“Beijing is done and London’s on the horizon"

In Full: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/new-olympic-rules-frustrate-british-cyclists/article1726238/?cmpid=rss1

 

[abbaskip]

Swimming isn't getting bigger; it’s just a sport with many events. The reason swimming isn't getting cut is that it’s considered a traditional sport, like athletics.

I presume your talking about Michael Phelps, who is one of those athletes that'll come along every 50 years. The range of events he's succeeded in is ridiculous. It’s like a track rider winning the Madison, Individual Pursuit, Kieren and Sprint in one outing.

Other swimmers compete in loads of events too. And guys like Ian Thorpe used to win quite a few races (though not as many as Phelps, who is a complete freak, but Thorpes peak was between Olympics too)...

As for the 'traditional sport', Cycling (Track AND Road) was also in the original modern Olympics.

How can track cycling lose so many disciplines, when Swimming has so many.

Swimming has
50, 100, 200, 400, 1500, 4 X 100, 4 X 200 Freestyle
The sprint, keiren, kilo and team sprint I guess you could say are like the 50, 100, 200 and 4 X 100...
Then the individual pursuit and teams pursuit I guess you could compare to the 400 and 4 X 200..

Then you have backstroke...
100, 200
Breastroke
100, 200
Butterfly
100, 200

Medly
200, 400 and relay...
Let's call the points the 400, scratch the 200, and relay the madison..

10k is the road race equivalent.

And we haven't even touch those secondary strokes?

The excuse was they had to make space for mountain bike and bmx events...So did swimming make the space for diving or synchronised swimming?? They're all on water? Just as MTB is similar to track racing...

There was 18 medals in Cycling (total) at the 2008 games. Not just track, but Road, BMX, MTB, Track...Canoeing had 16, Rowing 14. Swimming 34, Sync Swimming 2, Diving 8...47 in athletics...No balance at all.

Don't even start me on the 1 athlete per event thing. Imagine that in ANY other sport. There would be outcry. One American or Jamaican in the 100m sprint? One Kenyan in the marathon? One Chinese/Russian or American in Gymnastics...