Tuesday, August 19, 2008

2008 Olympics - British Cycling

British riders won seven of the 10 gold medals awarded at the velodrome.

“It looks like they swallowed a motorbike,” Dutch men’s sprinting star and world record-holder Theo Bos said.

Just about everyone else, the U.S. included, looked like they swallowed motor oil.

If nothing else, the British have shown that teams can quickly change their fortunes.

Australian sprint star Ryan Bayley said that eight years ago, British track racers were “the laughing stock of the pit.” And now? Britain has the best-funded track cycling program in the world, their high-tech, $26,000 bikes and year-round training regimen dwarfing anything the U.S. and most of the other programs around the world can offer.

“We are laughing,” Bayley said, “because we can’t beat them.”

The American side believes hope exists for 2012, though.

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