Colorado Springs, Colo. (July 20, 2004)--USA Cycling received today the decision from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) with regards to the selection of the single womens mountain bike start position for the Olympic Games. The arbitrators decision was to nominate Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.) to the U.S. Olympic mountain bike team.
McConneloug challenged the original nomination of Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.) and her appeal primarily focused on USA Cyclings decision to include 15 UCI points from last Julys NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series event in Sandpoint, Idaho in her international ranking. Ultimately, those 15 points proved to be a deciding factor in which athlete received a nomination. With the inclusion of those points, Haywoods adjusted total was 1489 to McConnelougs 1488.
In the spirit of fairness, we decided to include these 15 points since they were omitted from the official international rankings at no fault of the athletes, explained Gerard Bisceglia, USA Cycling chief executive officer. In the end, the exclusion of these points was going to affect the Olympic aspirations of two deserving athletes. We fully support the arbitrators decision to nominate Mary and feel that she will be a competitive force and fine delegate of the U.S. Olympic team. We know Sue is very disappointed and its a bittersweet moment for Mary but now she can focus her attention towards Athens and preparing for the Olympic Games.
McConneloug challenged the original nomination of Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.) and her appeal primarily focused on USA Cyclings decision to include 15 UCI points from last Julys NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series event in Sandpoint, Idaho in her international ranking. Ultimately, those 15 points proved to be a deciding factor in which athlete received a nomination. With the inclusion of those points, Haywoods adjusted total was 1489 to McConnelougs 1488.
In the spirit of fairness, we decided to include these 15 points since they were omitted from the official international rankings at no fault of the athletes, explained Gerard Bisceglia, USA Cycling chief executive officer. In the end, the exclusion of these points was going to affect the Olympic aspirations of two deserving athletes. We fully support the arbitrators decision to nominate Mary and feel that she will be a competitive force and fine delegate of the U.S. Olympic team. We know Sue is very disappointed and its a bittersweet moment for Mary but now she can focus her attention towards Athens and preparing for the Olympic Games.
