Bos and Hoy in Track Sprint
This morning was the start of the 500 metre track sprint for men and women. After the qualifying time trial, riders go through to the quarters, semi and then final. The sprint takes place over 3 days.
Victoria Pendleton, is a strong favourite for the women’s title. I hope she stands up well to the pressure of the Olympics. The women have only 1 sprint event, unlike the men who have 3. Victoria looked very impressive qualifying from her quarter final. She set a new Olympic record in qualifying time trial
Chris Hoy currently looks unbeatable on the track (he also set Olympic record in qualifying time trial) and will be going for a third gold medal. That would make 4 Golds in 4 separate events, (he won 1km time trial in 2004)
Jason Kenney is another young British athlete with tremendous potential. He could make a medal
Tactics of 500m Olympic Sprint.
In the knockout stages, it’s simply a case of beating your own opponent. There is a lot of cat and mouse. Sometimes the riders may come to a complete stop to try and force the rival to the front. A rule has been added to limit this to 30seconds. (In one race, there was a 1 hour standoff with riders stopping on the bend of the track) – not ideal for tv schedules. Riders don’t sprint from the start because their opponent would be able to ride in the wheels for a while before sprinting around.
Speed in Last 200 metres
An example of the speed in last 200 metres
- In the quarter final Jason Kenny sprinted last 200 metres in 10.5 seconds – 68Kmph.
- Victoria Pendleton sprinted last 200 metres in 11.6 seconds.
Photo by John the Scone flickr
Other Track News
Rebecca Romero won Gold in 4km pursuit. Wendy Houvenghal took silver.
New World Record – 4Km Team Pursuit
British 4km Time trial team set a new world record of three minutes 44.205 seconds. British Pursuit Team:
- Bradley Wiggins, Paul Manning, Geraint Thomas and Ed Clancy
No comments yet.