Boulder cyclist Taylor Phinney braced for the bad news, but it didn’t lessen the impact any when he learned Thursday that Olympic leaders eliminated his specialty, the 4,000-meter individual pursuit.
“A little part of me knew this day would come. I’m just devastated,” Phinney said from Tucson in a phone interview with The Denver Post. “But I’m not surprised. I had ample time to think about it.”
Olympic leaders approved major changes Thursday in track cycling as well as adding mixed doubles in tennis for the 2012 London Games.
The individual pursuit has been the specialty of Phinney, a 19-year-old world champion. He said he would compete in the event at the world championships in March.
As for the 2012 Olympics, “I’ll definitely take time to think about what I’ll do,” Phinney said. He said he might do the road time trial, or the road race, or the five-event omnium.
Also eliminated by the IOC at its meeting in Switzerland were the men’s and women’s points races, and men’s madison. The new Olympic program includes men’s and women’s competition in individual sprint, team sprint, keirin, team pursuit and the five-race omnium event. The omnium combines performances in a 3-kilometer individual pursuit, 200-meter sprint, 1K time trial, 15K points race and 5K scratch race.
Cycling had seven track events for men and three for women at the 2008 Beijing Games. The IOC said the changes were designed to make sure men and women compete in an equal number of events in London.
Phinney disputed the rationale behind the move.
“That doesn’t make sense with the changes they made,” he said. “The individual pursuit already had gender equity, as did the points race. They’re making changes on false claims. They wanted something when they already had it.”
The change will bring the number of female track cyclists in London to 84, up from 35 in Beijing in 2008. Women will make up 45 percent of the total number of Olympic track cyclists, compared to 19 percent in Beijing.
Phinney is currently at a road racing camp in Tucson. His next race is in February at the Tour of Qatar.
Denver Post staff writer John Henderson contributed to this report.
