I think it’s safe to say I’m a little more excited about Olympic cycling on the track this year than I was about the road race and time trial. The “story” of the American team is just a little more encapsulating, I guess. It probably begins with a vague connection to a few of the American track cyclists via blogs at missingsaddle.com, as I watched the story unfold on there. To start, the qualifying process for this year’s games put best friends in competition against each other – especially between Mike Friedman and Brad Huff. You can still see that happy relationship continue while Friedman is abroad; check out one of Brad’s blog posts for one example… And then my favorite Olympian quote yet:
“They were on my bus this morning and we are flying with them. Instead of getting an emergency exit row I made sure to sit next to them, because they are gorgeous! I’m single, I have to roll with it and make Huff proud!” -Mike Friedman on the US softball team, via cyclingnews.com
And who could talk about American track cycling without mentioning the wonder kid Taylor Phinney. He just qualified for the individual pursuit with a 7th place finish, against the fastest racers in the world. And he’s 18 years old. That’s four years younger than me, and ten years younger than Bradley Wiggins, who will most likely take gold in the pursuit again this year. He’s going to absolutely dominate in 2012.
There’s also something to be said about the whole anti-pollution face mask fiasco, involving portions of the American track cycling squad. I’m not too sympathetic to China’s self-consciousness. Yes, they made an effort to reduce pollution; unfortunately that effort was too little too late. The fact of the matter is that China produces incredible amounts of pollution; perhaps a little international attention on the matter is a good thing.
My friend Leonel Manzano will advance to the semifinals in the 1500m after running a blistering fast 03:36.7 in the first round of qualifying last night. Very exciting; it was definitely a nail-biter since he didn’t qualify by result, but by time instead. Best of luck to him as he works his way towards the finals.
And that’s my Olympic update. I’m not too into the other events, although Phelps does look incredibly good celebrating half-naked next to the pool. I mean that in a totally heterosexual way.
