Update Dec. 15, 2011 — Phinney and Hammer named to long teams for 2012 Olympic track cycling
Aug. 15, 2008 — US track cyclist Taylor Phinney's dreams for an Olympic gold medal continue as he qualified for the men's individual pursuit and advances to the first round.
Another US cyclist, Sarah Hammer, qualified for the women's individual pursuit and also advances for next round to be held on Saturday.
Phinney
Phinney, 18, is the son of Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter-Phinney, both Olympic medal holders in cycling. He's been racing track for about a year.
He finished 8th in the event in the World Championships held in Manchester this year. He won the event at the junior World Championships in Cape Town and the World Cup in Los Angeles.
Phinney finished 7th out of 18 cyclists in the track cycling event held at the Laoshan Velodrome on Friday. The top 8 cyclists advance to the first round on Saturday, and the top four will compete in the final later that same day. The LA Times writes about him in “Taylor Phinney wants to carry on a cycling legacy.”
The first round starts at 4:30 p.m. Beijing time, which is 1:30 a.m. PT on Saturday. The finals are scheduled for 6:50 p.m. Beijing, which is 6:50 a.m. ET and 3:50 a.m. PT. You can find a video stream at NBCOlympics.com.
Phinney is paired against Hayden Roulston of New Zealand in the qualifying round. He must beat him to get into the finals.
Update: The scheduling geniuses at NBC have removed Saturday track cycling from online video streaming. Amazing. They have all the tools and they screw up the online coverage as badly as their on-air coverage.
If you want to see track cycling, tune into USA Networks between 7:30 and 11 a.m. (PT) on Saturday. The women individual pursuit, men's point and men's keirin will allegedly be shown with women's field hockey and ping pong!
The NBC affiliates also scheduled track cycling from noon to 1 p.m. (PT) Saturday. This will focus on Phinney's attempt at a gold medal in the individual pursuit.
Track cycling coverage is still scheduled for online video streaming coverage for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. See “Video-stream and TV schedule for Olympic coverage”
Hammer
Hammer finished 5th in the top 8. Her next round is scheduled for 5 a.m. (ET) Saturday; 2 a.m. (PT). The finals are scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday Beijing time, 5 a.m. (ET) 2 a.m. (PT). She will be paired with Alison Shanks of New Zealand, who placed fourth in qualifying.
The 24-year-old Californian has won two of the past three World Championships in the 3000 meter individual pursuit. She finished 2nd in her last contest in Manchester, England.
Hammer is coming off a severe back injury in the spring of 2007 that cut into her training.
Other track cycling events scheduled for Saturday include finals in the Men's Points Race and finals in the Men's Keirin race. See all cycling schedules.
Pursuit
The men's pursuit is 4 kilometers and the women's is 3 kilometers. The four winners from the first round will compete in the finals. The riders in the first two places will compete for gold and silver, while the 3rd and 4th place riders will compete for bronze.
In individual pursuit, the riders start on opposite sides of the straight section of the track. Catching the other rider or recording the fastest time determines the winner.
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