[Heidi]

WOW -

Susan Haywood's ninth place finish at the Marathon World Championships on Sunday was just good enough to put her one UCI point ahead of Mary McConneloug, who finished 24th.

UCI Points on July 12th:
Susan Haywood: 1370 + 119 (for ninth place) = 1489
Mary McConneloug: 1411 + 77 (for 24th place) = 1488

Whoever said truth is stranger than fiction certainly could have been talking about the points race for possession of the U.S. women's sole Olympic mountain bike spot. In a crazy seesaw battle that started back in Vancouver, Canada on July 13th, 2003 at the Grouse Mountain World Cup and continued through over 20 different countries, contained two World Championships and ended with a brutal, grueling six hour marathon, Susan Haywood prevailed by a single point.

On the steep 1000 foot climb out of Bad Goisern, just after the Marathon's start, Haywood did not have the legs to stay with the lead group and lost sight of Mcconneloug. But Haywood passed McConneloug on the next descent where Mary was stopped, apparently to adjust her rain-coat. This would be the last time during the race that they would be in contact, racing against the insanely steep terrain and cold, wet Austrian weather instead of each other.

Both women suffered on this course but never gave up. Haywood overtook the Italian Anna Ferrari, whose wheels had stopped rolling, clogged with mud, just before the finish, picking up four crucial UCI points. McConneloug overtook four competitors coming into the finish, including Jimena Florit, but finished 15 places back and over 24 minutes behind Haywood.

 

[Joe Pozer]

Did Allison Dunlap get injured once again?

 

[Wumpus]

No, I think the point total is for a 12 month period, and since she was injured last year, she doesn't have any points for then.

 

[wooglin]

You forgot the best part:

This is a bittersweet ending to a race that should have sent three U.S. women to Athens. Obviously, former World Champion Alison Dunlap should be representing us in Greece. This is in addition to McConneloug, whose silver medal in Calgary last weekend proves she can pull off a big result.

While USA Cycling has stated that they will count the "missing points" from the 2003 Sandpoint, ID NORBA Nationals, they have not been able to explain the reason why these points were never recorded by the UCI. This is the same situation with the 2003 E2 short-tracks at Big Bear, Snowshoe or Mt. Snow, which also appear on the UCI calendar. These lost points were not counted by the UCI and directly contributed to the loss of our Olympic starting spots.

The promoters of these events paid big money to host a UCI category event. When both the UCI and USA Cycling were repeatedly contacted regarding these points, they have ignored the requests for information or replied that they did not know what happened. They don't seem to care. Hmm. Did the results accidentally get misplaced or was it the sanctioning fee?

 

[Joe Pozer]

You forgot the best part:

Pretty much explains why mt. bike racing at the National level is floundering. Its sad when there is only one spot on the Olympic team and the best hope for a Gold probably won't get the chance to compete.

 

[rockracing]

I think they're concentrating too much on technicalities and points, does the rider who can afford to compete in more races deserve a place in the olympics cos thats what it seems to come down to, the riders should have picked long ago an let them train/race specifically with the olympics in mind, not run arond the world competing in every little race with UCI ranking (weren't some of those girls racing in Cyprus ealier this year ?)

 

[The Toninator]

Did Allison Dunlap get injured once again?

she only has like 1 point.

 

[Mike B.]

Mary got absolutely hosed on this one. UCI said it Mary 1411 and Susan 1355 before the marathon. USA Cycling must be using "new math".

To answer the other question, yes, Mary did race in Cyprus and all around Europe this year on her own dime. She and boyfriend Mike Broderick were only back in North America for the Canadian World Cups.

From the USA Cycling website dated 7/12/04
"On the other hand, the women’s competition was extremely close. As the women lined up for the start this morning, Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.) held a 56 point lead on Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.) according to the latest UCI rankings published on July 6. McConneloug had 1411, Haywood 1355."

"Haywood gained 119 UCI points for her efforts while McConneloug scored 77."

My dog could do that math. Supposedly the spot was to be given to the one with the most UCI points, not imaginary USA Cycling points.