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Sunday, October 1
Americans still humble about medal hopes
Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia -- The American cyclists had a strong
kick. By winning two medals on the final day of racing at the
Sydney Olympics, they came through with as many medals as they'd
predicted.
All of three.
Lance Armstrong won a bronze in the men's time trial and Mari
Holden took silver in the women's event. Marty Nothstein took the
match sprint gold earlier.
"You have to be realistic," said team leader Sean Petty, who
had predicted three medals. "If people think three is low, they
don't know hard it is to win a medal. We haven't medaled the last
few years at the world championships. It's much more difficult at
the Olympics."
Since winning nine cycling medals at the Soviet-boycotted Los
Angeles Olympics in 1984, the Americans have been humbled. They
landed one medal in Seoul, two in Barcelona and three in Atlanta.
As in previous Olympics, the U.S. cyclists watched a steady
parade of Europeans march to the podium in Sydney. Still, there was
plenty to celebrate.
Nothstein won the first American gold since 1904 in a
non-boycotted Olympics. Chris Witty, on loan from the U.S.
speedskating team, set an American record of 35.23 seconds to place
fifth in the women's 500-meter time trial.
Armstrong, riding in his third Olympics, finally got the medal
that had eluded him. And Holden's silver was a pure delight, an
unexpected reward for her near-perfect effort.
"Every now and then, someone's going to pop a superlative
effort and that's what Mari did," Petty said. "Overall, we had
some other great efforts but we also had some bad luck along the
way, this whole games."
Without question, the U.S. medal count would have been higher
had things gone differently in a few events.
Nothstein, clearly the most dominant men's sprinter on the
track, missed a second medal in the Keirin, finishing fifth. He was
deliberately boxed out by a German, whose strategy placed his
countryman on the podium.
Armstrong, the two-time Tour de France champion, was 13th in the
road race after waiting too long to make his move. Holden and
teammate Karen Kurreck, beset by mechanical problems and crashes,
withdrew from the women's road race.
Alison Dunlap, ranked third in the world, finished seventh in
the women's mountain bike race after crashing in a tricky rock
groove. She was in second place at the time but, her pace
disrupted, never recovered.
Jame Carney was third as the men's points race came to a close
but made the wrong decision to coast with another rider on a late
sprint lap. He rode a strong race, but the lapse dropped him to
fifth.
Then there were some big letdowns.
The men's mountain bikers, their chances limited by poor start
positions, never contended. The men's team pursuit squad flopped,
ending Erin Hartwell's bid to become the first American cyclist to
win medals at three straight Olympics.
Other riders, especially on the track, rode slower than
expected.
"It was disappointing because no one rode to their potential,"
said Craig Griffin, coach of the U.S. endurance cyclists. "That's
really it. There's no easy way to put it."
That begs a question. Where does the American cycling program,
without the wider recruiting base or the higher national profile of
European and Australian rivals, go from here?
"We have to focus on medal opportunities," Petty said. "Maybe
it's not in every event, for the Olympics anyway. We'll look at the
events we can invest in that are going to have a quicker and
greater payoff at the Olympics."
Griffin said it's a challenge to train the team properly when
many riders have professional contacts with trade teams. He spent
only two weeks in May and June, then from mid-August to the
Olympics, preparing the endurance riders.
"It's hard to deal with the pros," Griffin said. "When you
have them, you have their commitment. But when you don't have them,
you have to work around their commitments."
Looking ahead, the Americans hope Nothstein and Armstrong pursue
the Athens Games. Perhaps U.S. Cycling will have Witty again after
she competes in the Salt Lake Olympics, and team leaders are
optimistic about many younger riders.
"We'll stem the leak, plug it and repair our system," Griffin
said.
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