UCI crushes cyclists Olympic dream for fun.

happytramp

Yes, the international embarrassment known as the UCI has decided to crush an Olympic hopefuls dream for seemingly no other reason than it felt like it. Be warned reading this is 100% guaranteed to result in high levels of irateness!!

http://espn.go.com/espnw/athletes-life/7528742/london-calling-disappointment-breeds-new-energy-kathryn-bertine

pantani

thanks for posting ,can you beleive that ,im sure a champion road racer should mean the same in any country .look at the UCI dragging the pro tour all over the world to "promote" cycling ie qatar ,oman and beijing.and our fellow country man is the president!

Beasty

Maybe it will allow someone who (or perhaps more accurately who's federation) did abide by the rules a place.

It's akin to saying Martyn Irvine should be re-instated to the Astana Track World Cup event, because no-one knew they would be so rigid in applying the rules

It may appear harsh, but rules are there for a reason. She still has a chance, so good luck to her. If she's good enough I'm sure there will be plenty more chances to pick up qualifying points

iverjohnston

Well they have kindred spirits here in Ireland, don't ya know. Remember Sonia O Sullivan being forced to change her togs in full public view minutes before a race?
Mack in Cavan

victorcarrera

I don't see that way. St Kitts and Nevis has a population of 50,000.
The UCI don't give points out to the cycling champion of Galway city (pop 70,000) either. She may also have won the national championships because she was one of the few ladies with a racing bike on those little islands. The competition in the other international race she won UCI points for was considered below par.
The article does not give us any TT times or name other international competition that she beat which might justify her inclusion in the olympics.
She finishes the article in the right frame of mind though and good luck to her.

Slideshowbob

She didn't qualify for Olympics

Many others don't

It's tough

What's here gripe or have I missed something?

Lumen

What is her connection with St. Kitts and Nevis?

Born there? Parents born there? Grandparents?

Beasty

victorcarrera wrote: »

She may also be one of the few ladies with a racing bike on those little islands.

I suspect she doesn't spend much time at all on those islands;)

She grew up as a figure skater - again I suspect the facilities for that particular sport in St Kitts are quite limited.

She "acquired dual citizenship with St. Kitts & Nevis to race for their country" - her words, my emphasis - presumably she did not consider herself good enough to get in the US team

Of course, her job as a senior sports writer for ESPN gives her the ideal opportunity to communicate her plight to the rest of the world

Anyway, I'm thinking of applying for citizenship of Tuvalu - I reckon I would have a fair chance in their national road championships (they only have 8km of them) - Rio here I come ....

victorcarrera

Beasty wrote: »

I suspect she doesn't spend much time at all on those islands;)

She grew up as a figure skater - again I suspect the facilities for that particular sport in St Kitts are quite limited.

She "acquired dual citizenship with St. Kitts & Nevis to race for their country" - her words, my emphasis - presumably she did not consider herself good enough to get in the US team

Of course, her job as a senior sports writer for ESPN gives her the ideal opportunity to communicate her plight to the rest of the world

Anyway, I'm thinking of applying for citizenship of Tuvalu - I reckon I would have a fair chance in their national road championships (they only have 8km of them) - Rio here I come ....

Oh right ! I don't like her any more then.
It seems that she has enough (material) there to write a series of articles while she is watching the olympics.:D

If Tuvalu doesn't work out we might try and get a UCI or (WMCF)ranking for the Batterstown 10.:)

Beasty

She's certainly an interesting character

Meet Kathryn Bertine, elite triathlete, former professional figure skater, and starving artist. Just as her personal and professional dreams begin to crumble in the summer of 2006, ESPN stakes her to a dream: Take two years to make the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. As Good As Gold is the heroic, hilarious account of Bertine’s serial exertions in the realms of triathlon, modern pentathlon, team handball, track cycling, road cycling, rowing, open water swimming, racewalking, and—fasten your seatbelts—luge

I'm sure she'll be able to write a new book about the UCI's attempts to crush her Olympic dream ...

happytramp

Beasty wrote: »

Maybe it will allow someone who (or perhaps more accurately who's federation) did abide by the rules a place.

Firstly, I don't see how the UCI retroactively deciding to deduct the points based on the numbers of countries participating can be construed as not abiding by the rules.

Secondly, the fact that the UCI's official response was "Well, you're not alone. There were plenty of other countries that didn't get points for the same reason." would at the very least imply that there may have been more to it than one small federation getting their dates wrong and is certainly indicative of poor communication between itself and it's smaller member states.

Beasty

happytramp wrote: »

Firstly, I don't see how the UCI retroactively deciding to deduct the points based on the numbers of countries participating can be construed as not abiding by the rules.

I don't interpret it as retroactively deducting points at all. They simply applied the rules - if the field was not considered of high enough quality, then I don't see the problem. I'm sure it's in the regulations somewhere (although I'm certainly not going to try and find it). As I've already indicated, if St Kitts & Nevis were given the points they were not entitled to, and allowed to keep them, it would be at the expense of someone else who had acquired "genuine" ones. I'm sure there will be hundreds of sob-stories from athletes who just fail to make the Olympics, and I'm equally sure I will have a lot more sympathy for some of them that for the likes of Kathryn Bertine

happytramp

Beasty wrote: »

I don't interpret it as retroactively deducting points at all.

Fair enough. That said, they did technically award the points and then later deduct them. Regardless of who you are, that is going to be a bitter pill to swallow.

ednwireland

this bit made me laugh

Then, the really big kick: The UCI would no longer count my 13 national championship points because the St. Kitts and Nevis federation sent the results in two days late for a deadline unknown to it. Our federation is new, small and humble, and still learning the intricacies of the UCI. It was unaware of any deadline and had not received an email or letter stating such a rule. To this, the UCI responded, "Well, you're not alone. There were plenty of other countries that didn't get points for the same reason."

so you want your points to count even though your federation didnt submit them in time, maybe you should be complaining to your federation

non story

Beasty

I actually find the whole story amusing

She found the smallest nation in the Americas, who give her citizenship in return for her putting in place a programme to deliver an Olympic cyclist for that nation - the only obvious candidate being herself

She failed at her first attempt, but continues to get the might of ESPN to support her crusade on behalf of this small nation

Of course I'm sure ESPN would also provide her with the resource needed to fight her case through the CAS, if anyone thought she had a leg to stand on

It maybe a non story, but it's a good one for a Friday

Lumen

Fair play to her for attempting to game the Olympic qualification system but moaning when the game backfires is a but much.

Here's a novel idea: qualify through the country in which you were born.

I think it's interesting how athletes competing at top level must by nature be utterly focused on winning for themselves whereas the audience for the Olympics tends to socialise the achievements under the national flag.