UCI drops kilo and 500m events from Olympics

Robert Chung said:

Holy cow.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jun05/jun11news

did anyone see this coming ?

amit said:

Robert Chung said:

Holy cow.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jun05/jun11news

did anyone see this coming ?

As it relates to the UCI, no. However, apparently the IOC is trying to
cut back some on the numbers of events and participants (including the
requirement that for any new sports added (e.g, golf, rugby), there has
to be a corresponding drop of existing sports (e.g., modern pentathlon).

Sports Illustrated did an article on this one a couple of weeks ago.

Smith

The UCI release
(http://uci.ch/modello.asp?1stlevelid=B&level1=2&level2=0&idnews=3559)
says the decision came after an "in-depth evaluation done in concert
with its National Federations". However, according to their websites,
the Australian and British federations (arguably the top two nations in
track cycling) are shocked and disappointed by the decision. Strange.

Yes, it's been known for a while that two track events would be cut in
order to bring bmx to the Olympics. For various reasons I had thought
it would be the madison and keirin that went.

Anton

On 11 Jun 2005 11:03:27 -0700, "amit" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Robert Chung said:

Holy cow.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jun05/jun11news

did anyone see this coming ?

Yes, when I heard a few weeks ago that something would be cut.

I'm not into track, and have to say those are the least interesting
races *to me.* But after reading that article I see that by cutting
those short events it's going to hurt the athletes interest in the
match sprint, which is a shame.

JT

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On 11 Jun 2005 11:32:10 -0700, "Anton Quist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Yes, it's been known for a while that two track events would be cut in
order to bring bmx to the Olympics. For various reasons I had thought
it would be the madison and keirin that went.

The keirin is more "exciting" to the uninitiated, but compared to the
pure simplicity of the kilo, well I think cutting the kilo but keeping
kerin was wrong.

Is there madison in the Olympics? I thought it was just a points race.

JT

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"Robert Chung" <[email hidden]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email hidden]...
| Holy cow.
|
| http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jun05/jun11news
|

Chris Hoy's dad has put a petition online-
http://www.petitiononline.com/1000k/petition.html

Anton Quist said:

Yes, it's been known for a while that two track events would be cut in
order to bring bmx to the Olympics. For various reasons I had thought
it would be the madison and keirin that went.

Yep, the decision to cut was made when BMX came on.

I am surprised by this. My money would have been on the
Team Pursuit, which costs a lot of money and really only
has a few competitive nations. The trend has been to add
events that don't require additional bodies, like Keirin
which is contested by the sprinters. And the Team Sprint
which is contested by sprinters and kilo riders. So now
the Team Sprint gets thrown for a loop. They've cut a
sport but not really reduced the number of needed riders.
Cutting the TP would have reduced the number of riders.

Bob Schwartz
[email hidden]

In article <[email hidden]>,

Bob Schwartz said:

Anton Quist said:

Yes, it's been known for a while that two track events would be cut in
order to bring bmx to the Olympics. For various reasons I had thought
it would be the madison and keirin that went.

Yep, the decision to cut was made when BMX came on.

I am surprised by this. My money would have been on the
Team Pursuit, which costs a lot of money and really only
has a few competitive nations. The trend has been to add
events that don't require additional bodies, like Keirin
which is contested by the sprinters. And the Team Sprint
which is contested by sprinters and kilo riders. So now
the Team Sprint gets thrown for a loop. They've cut a
sport but not really reduced the number of needed riders.
Cutting the TP would have reduced the number of riders.

Bob Schwartz
[email hidden]

Once we knew BMX was coming, the decision to drop two riders was a
foregone conclusion.

The 'ideal' specialty to eliminate would be one that has only one male
and one female rider.

Mass start events were exempt (IMHO). The Scratch Race and Points are
too much a part of what the UCI wants 'track racing to be'.

Keirin, Team Sprint and Team Pursuit are easy to make look exciting on
TV.

What's left?

Though I love a competitive Individual Pursuit - I'm surprised they
chose them over the TT's.

Mike G.
-

Mike Gladu wrote:

that's too bad. i always liked the kilo -- the idea of going all out
for a minute.

plus, canada has (had) a pretty good prospect in the event - travis
smith.

In article <[email hidden]>,

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

On 11 Jun 2005 11:32:10 -0700, "Anton Quist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Yes, it's been known for a while that two track events would be cut in
order to bring bmx to the Olympics. For various reasons I had thought
it would be the madison and keirin that went.

The keirin is more "exciting" to the uninitiated, but compared to the
pure simplicity of the kilo, well I think cutting the kilo but keeping
kerin was wrong.

Is there madison in the Olympics? I thought it was just a points race.

JT

Yeah, there's a Madison, but as far as I can recall, it was only added
to the Olympics in 2000. I don't think they'd have an event around for just
two editions of the Olympics.

--
tanx,
Howard

Butter is love.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

On 11 Jun 2005 11:32:10 -0700, "Anton Quist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Yes, it's been known for a while that two track events would be cut in
order to bring bmx to the Olympics. For various reasons I had thought
it would be the madison and keirin that went.

The keirin is more "exciting" to the uninitiated, but compared to the
pure simplicity of the kilo, well I think cutting the kilo but keeping
kerin was wrong.

Is there madison in the Olympics? I thought it was just a points race.

Dumbass -

Quoted message said:

From a spectator's standpoint, madison and keirin are 100x more

exciting than kilo and 500m.

thanks,

K. Gringioni.

NFN Smith said:

As it relates to the UCI, no. However, apparently the IOC is trying to
cut back some on the numbers of events and participants (including the
requirement that for any new sports added (e.g, golf, rugby), there has
to be a corresponding drop of existing sports (e.g., modern pentathlon).

Sports Illustrated did an article on this one a couple of weeks ago.

Smith

So they should take out some of the sport events that make little
sense to have in the Olympics in the first place - like they need
another pro tennis stop at whatever site is picked for the Olympics -
and make room.

OTOH, I've watched less every Olympics since the 80s and almost not at
all the last two. If cycling pulled out and just did their own thing
somewhere else, I'm guessing we'll have fewer empty, abandoned Olympic
velodromes - OK, most have been pulled down or converted - and
something that didn't distort the schedule once every four years. We
could call them the World Championships or something.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

You can add to this France, as the top three coaches, Morelon, Quyntin,
and Rousseau, were also surprised and upset. There is also Holland
where Bos was not too happy, according to L'Equipe. One could also
imagine that other countries which have had good performances would
object, in particular, Germany, Greece, etc. I wonder which countries
supported this decision...

-ilan

-------------------
However, according to their websites,
the Australian and British federations (arguably the top two nations in
track cycling) are shocked and disappointed by the decision. Strange.

Quoted message said:

There is also Holland where Bos was not too happy, according to L'Equipe.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?1000k no. 772.

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I am sure this petition will sway the UCI to change its mind...

Does the UCI even care about track in the first place?

"trg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Robert Chung" <[email hidden]> a écrit dans le message de news:
[email hidden]...
| Holy cow.
|
| http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jun05/jun11news
|

Chris Hoy's dad has put a petition online-
http://www.petitiononline.com/1000k/petition.html

the dudes in lausanne musta smoked
a kilo before they made this decision.
hey - thanks for reading.
e-RICHIE

I thought that the UCI had constructed a track in Aigle, and had hired
sprinter Magne as coach, and this had already resulted in some
strong riders from countries with no cycling programme, e.g., thailand
or malaysia, I forget. Anyway, some of these people were already
competitive at world's this year.

-ilan

--------------------------------------------------------------

I am sure this petition will sway the UCI to change its mind...

Does the UCI even care about track in the first place?

"trg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

On 11 Jun 2005 11:32:10 -0700, "Anton Quist" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Yes, it's been known for a while that two track events would be cut in
order to bring bmx to the Olympics. For various reasons I had thought
it would be the madison and keirin that went.

The keirin is more "exciting" to the uninitiated, but compared to the
pure simplicity of the kilo, well I think cutting the kilo but keeping
kerin was wrong.

Is there madison in the Olympics? I thought it was just a points race.

Dumbass -

Quoted message said:

From a spectator's standpoint, madison and keirin are 100x more

exciting than kilo and 500m.

thanks,

K. Gringioni.

Nipplehead:

You are very wrong on this one. At the recent Worlds in L.A. the kilo got
the house rocking, spectators bangin the boards. It is a true track event.
power speed and endurance. I like watching the madison but the average
spectator can't follow it. I was talking with Des Dickie. ( US Nat coach) he
said that to his knowledge MOST federations voted to cut the Team pursuit or
the Individual pursuit. The UCI did what they wanted to. Go figure

Dave

Dave H said:

"Kurgan Gringioni" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

John Forrest Tomlinson said:

On 11 Jun 2005 11:32:10 -0700, "Anton Quist" <[email hidden]>
wrote:

>Yes, it's been known for a while that two track events would be cut in
>order to bring bmx to the Olympics. For various reasons I had thought
>it would be the madison and keirin that went.

The keirin is more "exciting" to the uninitiated, but compared to the
pure simplicity of the kilo, well I think cutting the kilo but keeping
kerin was wrong.

Is there madison in the Olympics? I thought it was just a points race.

Dumbass -

Quoted message said:

From a spectator's standpoint, madison and keirin are 100x more

exciting than kilo and 500m.

thanks,

K. Gringioni.

Nipplehead:

You are very wrong on this one. At the recent Worlds in L.A. the kilo got
the house rocking, spectators bangin the boards. It is a true track event.
power speed and endurance. I like watching the madison but the average
spectator can't follow it. I was talking with Des Dickie. ( US Nat coach) he
said that to his knowledge MOST federations voted to cut the Team pursuit or
the Individual pursuit. The UCI did what they wanted to. Go figure

Dumbass -

It's very subjective, but to me Kilo is very boring compared to
madison.

And ya, pursuit is boring, especially qualifying.

K. Gringioni.