|
|
Tuesday, September 19
Explosive sprint cyclist is keeping a low profile
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- When the world's fastest cyclists raced
for their countries Sunday on three-member Olympic sprint teams,
one of the top riders was holed up in an apartment 10 minutes from
the velodrome.
|  | | Marty Nothstein, riding in the men's sprint qualifying round, says he didn't come to the Games to take home a certificate. He's looking for some hardware. |
With no apologies, American Marty Nothstein is thinking of
himself.
For years, he has concentrated on his two individual events.
Nothstein, of Trexlertown, Pa., begins qualifying for the match
sprint Monday and he'll race Thursday in the Keirin preliminaries.
"I'd like to win two gold medals down there," he said last
month at U.S. nationals. "There aren't too many riders in the
world who can claim they're capable of winning two gold medals.
Fortunately, I'm one of those riders."
Nothstein opened his bid Monday (Sunday night EDT) in sprint
qualifying, covering 200 meters in 10.166, the fastest among 19
riders and narrowly off the Olympic record of 10.129.
While Darryn Hill and Sean Eadie of Australia, Laurent Gane and
Florian Rousseau of France and Jens Fiedler of Germany raced Sunday
night, Nothstein watched television at his apartment.
"Some of the major players are out," said Gil Hatton,
Nothstein's longtime personal coach. "They've got nerves and
everything else that goes with the competition and the effort. We
feel it's to Marty's advantage."
Nothstein, the silver medalist in match sprint at the Atlanta
Olympics, is a favorite for gold this time. He's also a top
contender in the Keirin, where riders follow a pace motorcycle for
six laps, then sprint to the finish.
Hatton said Nothstein would have considered racing in the
Olympic sprint if the United States could have assembled a better
squad. After the Americans placed last out of 12 teams on Sunday,
those concerns were substantiated.
Although Nothstein certainly would have improved the sprint
team, he has said he would do it only if he had a chance at a
medal. It's a decision that's supported by American team officials.
"You have to understand that Marty is very, very competitive,"
said Des Dickie, coach of the U.S. sprinters. "He wants to be at
his best all the time."
How focused is Nothstein?
He has granted few interviews since arriving in Australia. His
wife, children and mother are in Sydney, but they're not staying
with him and he won't spend any significant time with them until
after he races.
As for the Olympic Village, forget it. Nothstein decided a long
time ago he would rent an apartment in Sydney to minimize
distractions.
"He prefers it that way," Hatton said. "His mom, his wife and
his kids understand that he's totally focused on what he's spent
the last four years getting ready to do."
And what exactly is that?
"It's gold, for sure," Nothstein said last month. "I didn't
train at this level, with this intensity, to get a certificate for
participating in the Olympics. I want to bring some hardware
home."
The first step was qualifying for the match sprint Monday
(Sunday night EDT). The event mixes strategy and speed, with riders
slowly jockeying for position or racing all-out. Sometimes, they'll
go from dead-still to dead-sprint in seconds.
In qualifying, riders are timed at 200 meters. Because the fastest
rider is awarded top seeding in the tournament-style competition,
it's no secret Nothstein wanted to qualify in first place.
"It means a lot to Marty to be competitive," Hatton said.
"The qualifying round is about more than the seeding because the
world's best cycling sprinters are here."
Among them is Fiedler, the gold medal winner at the past two
Olympics. In Atlanta, Fiedler beat Nothstein by a centimeter, a
finish that has motivated the American ever since.
"He's like a volcano ready to explode," Hatton said. "He's
going to come out here and do what's necessary to win."
|  | |
|
