Dramatic crash during the Women's Points Race
The points race is vicious. For 16 women, it's 100 laps around the velodrome, but like the individual sprint, it is a race that involves both strategy and speed. Every 10 laps, there is a sprint, and the first five riders to finish get points. If you happen to lap the herd, you get an extra 20 points; if you get lapped, you lose 20 points. Cyclists have to watch their competition and choose the right time to try to lap the rest of the riders. It takes monstrous amounts of endurance. Additionally, since the riders move around in a huge pack and follow each other closely for less wind drag, cyclists need good reaction time and agility, as proven today. Amy, our supervisor, predicted there would be a crash, because "there's always a crash in the women's points race."
I was standing in the mixed zone, per usual, turning around in circles to follow the race, and around lap 21, I heard the telltale clunk, clunk, thump sound I've come to recognize as a crash on the track. I've witnessed more than one crash this week, the first was during the very first qualification race; a rider from Poland wiped out on the second lap. Also, Theo Bos crashed during his qualifying shot at the keirin. This collision, however, was more dramatic than the others because of the number of people involved. One of riders accidently clipped another bike with her wheel after the second sprint, causing a snowball crash down a bend (the bends are the elevated sides of the track.. Laoshan's bends are at 42 degree angles). Several riders went down; a Chinese rider barely wobbled and escaped the avalanche of bikes and people. We saw Trine Schmidt from Denmark emerge from the pileup to continue on the race, but Sarah Hammer from the United States was in agony. Amy commented that her collarbone was probably broken by the way she was holding her arm, which is a common injury in track cycling. Riders from Japan and Germany looked hurt as well. Another wound common on the track is burns; when riders fall and slide against the wood, their Spandex-y uniforms burn off on the track or sometimes into their skin. It's brutal. I wrote a little bit about Olympic heartbreak last night, and this is another example. Many of these women only compete in this one race, because there's only three female track cycling events at the Olympics, and in one instant, a wheel can clip another wheel and cause a multiple person tumble that results in a DNF (did not finish) instead of the sought-after Gold.
Clunk, clunk, thump. An unidentified track cycling crash.
What happened to Theo Bos?
Another dramatic story from today is that of Theo Bos from the Netherlands. The Dutch have been plagued so far in the competition: a rider crashed into his coach during training, another rider crashed while practicing on the road and broke both of his arms, and then there's the Beijing downfall of star Dutchman Theo Bos. I wrote a bit about Theo, the speedy golden boy, a while back because he was projected to medal in several events: He holds a world record and was undefeated for a few years. He, however, did not even make it to a final for any of his events. Today was his last chance, and he did not move on to the men's sprint. A few days ago, a Polish rider clipped him during the qualifying round of the keirin, causing him to crash, and it's been downward from there. He finished ninth in the flying 200 meter, the event in which he holds the world record. In an interview, Theo said that his legs don't work any longer, and that no one has to fear his speed. He seemed very glum since his keirin crash, however, and I think the mental part of the game got to him. He's going to 25 years old on August 22. Chris Hoy and many other medalists in their prime are in their 30s, so he's got lots time to recover and reclaim his spot on the podium. I think he'll be fine.
Anyway, my mother asked me to post pictures of Laoshan on my blog. As a personal rule, however, I don't take pictures inside the 'Drome, because it looks unprofessional when people in uniform walk around wielding digital cameras and snapping pictures at athletes and who knows what else during competition. So here's a bunch of images of the velodrome from various websites. Welcome to the office:
Above and below: Pretty much my view during competition.
Great Britain right after winning Gold in the Men's Team Sprint.
When this picture was taken, I was stationed by the BBC and ducking somewhere behind the microphone under the arm of the man on the left, Jamie Staff.
Tuesday is the last day of track competition. I'm working a "double," going in early to hang around the outdoor courses while riders train and then switching over to the track events in the afternoon. BMX and mountain biking begin soon! Move over, Britain. It's time for a little American bike domination. :-)
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