This has been bugging me for a few days now and although my wife says "get over it," I just can't seem to feel that USA Cycling has wronged Mary, the cycling world and even the country. I'm curious to hear what everyone else thinks so I'll provide the background.
The U.S. only has one spot for a woman to compete in XC this year in Athens. It was announced last year that the one spot would be awarded to the woman who was leading in UCI points as of July 12, 2004. This was later confirmed by the team selection criteria posted on the USA Cycling website (usacycling.org), Section 3, Part 2, Paragraph b, entitled Automatic selection criteria.
(i) No US woman finished in the top 3 at the 2003 World Championship
(ii) The top ranked rider on UCI rankings as of 7/12/04 - Mary McConneloug 1488 to Susan Haywood's 1354. It is important to remember that points are discarded once they are 1 year old. (uci.ch)
At this point, we should really have to go no further but just for fun:
(iii) If the above is not satisfied, then the top ranked rider in World Cup points - Mary with finishes of 14, 12, 11, 19, 7, and 2nd this year versus Susan's 15, 15, 17, 12, 12, and 15th. Haywood only bested McConneloug in World Cup race this year.
(iv) If the above is not satisfied, any US rider finishing in the top 5 at the Calgary World Cup. Mary finished 2nd.
The discretionary criteria should never have been considered because the automatic criteria was already fulfilled.
However, on July 16, Haywood was nominated and the following is a portion of the announcement found on the USA Cycling website:
"A well-documented chase for UCI points between Haywood and Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.) finally came to a close last Sunday. Following the final UCI-sanctioned cross country event on the calendar prior to Olympic selection, the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, Haywood narrowly escaped with the Olympic nomination. Following the race, Haywoods ninth place finish and McConnelougs 24th place effort resulted in a one point differential between the two athletes who battled all year. McConneloug was credited with a total of 1488 UCI points and Haywood, whose total includes points from the July 2003 short track race at the NORBA National in Sandpoint, Idaho not reflected on the UCI calendar, had accrued 1489."
New math at it's finest. Did Trek have some lobbying power? Did the committee not want Mary to go to Athens? Who would you rather watch represent the country in the Olympics, the reigning US National Champion and #2 ranked rider in the world or Susan Haywood?
If you feel the same way I do please contact USA Cycling and let them know how you feel. If you disagree with me, let me know why, I must be missing something.
By the way, many of you know that I am affiliated with Stan's NoTubes who is one of Mary's biggest sponsors so maybe I'm biased, but we also provide support to the entire Trek - VW team, so I can't be too far off.
For some further reading, check out the following links.
Email #1 from Mary M. and Mike Broderick to Stan
Email #2 from Mike & Mary to Stan
Letter to the editor at Velonews
The U.S. only has one spot for a woman to compete in XC this year in Athens. It was announced last year that the one spot would be awarded to the woman who was leading in UCI points as of July 12, 2004. This was later confirmed by the team selection criteria posted on the USA Cycling website (usacycling.org), Section 3, Part 2, Paragraph b, entitled Automatic selection criteria.
(i) No US woman finished in the top 3 at the 2003 World Championship
(ii) The top ranked rider on UCI rankings as of 7/12/04 - Mary McConneloug 1488 to Susan Haywood's 1354. It is important to remember that points are discarded once they are 1 year old. (uci.ch)
At this point, we should really have to go no further but just for fun:
(iii) If the above is not satisfied, then the top ranked rider in World Cup points - Mary with finishes of 14, 12, 11, 19, 7, and 2nd this year versus Susan's 15, 15, 17, 12, 12, and 15th. Haywood only bested McConneloug in World Cup race this year.
(iv) If the above is not satisfied, any US rider finishing in the top 5 at the Calgary World Cup. Mary finished 2nd.
The discretionary criteria should never have been considered because the automatic criteria was already fulfilled.
However, on July 16, Haywood was nominated and the following is a portion of the announcement found on the USA Cycling website:
"A well-documented chase for UCI points between Haywood and Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.) finally came to a close last Sunday. Following the final UCI-sanctioned cross country event on the calendar prior to Olympic selection, the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, Haywood narrowly escaped with the Olympic nomination. Following the race, Haywoods ninth place finish and McConnelougs 24th place effort resulted in a one point differential between the two athletes who battled all year. McConneloug was credited with a total of 1488 UCI points and Haywood, whose total includes points from the July 2003 short track race at the NORBA National in Sandpoint, Idaho not reflected on the UCI calendar, had accrued 1489."
New math at it's finest. Did Trek have some lobbying power? Did the committee not want Mary to go to Athens? Who would you rather watch represent the country in the Olympics, the reigning US National Champion and #2 ranked rider in the world or Susan Haywood?
If you feel the same way I do please contact USA Cycling and let them know how you feel. If you disagree with me, let me know why, I must be missing something.
By the way, many of you know that I am affiliated with Stan's NoTubes who is one of Mary's biggest sponsors so maybe I'm biased, but we also provide support to the entire Trek - VW team, so I can't be too far off.
For some further reading, check out the following links.
Email #1 from Mary M. and Mike Broderick to Stan
Email #2 from Mike & Mary to Stan
Letter to the editor at Velonews
