Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics
| Cycling at the Games of the XXX Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | London Velopark (track, BMX) Hadleigh Farm (cross-country) Central London and Surrey (road race, time trial) |
| Dates | 28 July – 12 August |
The cycling competitions at the 2012 Olympic Games in London took place at five venues between 28 July and 12 August. The venues were the London Velopark for track cycling and BMX,[1] and Hadleigh Farm, in Essex, for mountain biking.[2] The road races took place over a course starting and ending in The Mall in central London[3] and heading out into Surrey, while the time trials started and finished at Hampton Court Palace in Richmond upon Thames. Eighteen events were contested and around 500 athletes participated.
Cycling events have been contested in every Summer Olympics programme since the first modern Olympiad in 1896 alongside athletics, artistic gymnastics, fencing and swimming. Compared to the cycling at the 2008 Olympics, there were many changes in the Olympic track cycling programme. The men's and women's individual pursuit and points race, and the men's Madison were removed. Team sprint, team pursuit and keirin were added to the women's programme, while Omnium was a new race for both men and women.[4] Countries were restricted to one entry per track event, a restriction which seemed to be directed at preventing the British team from double-medalling in the same event as they had in four events in 2008, thus lowering their medal chances. However, similarly to the 2008 Beijing Games, the cycling events were dominated by the British team, which was the only one to win more than a single gold medal.
Venues
The road racing at the Olympics and Paralympic Games was originally scheduled to take place in Regent's Park and on Hampstead Heath. Instead, the Olympic road races started and finished on The Mall in central London and headed out in a south-westerly direction to include loops around Box Hill in Surrey.[5] Road racing in the Paralympics took place at Brands Hatch.[6] The Olympic mountain bike event took place at Hadleigh Farm after the UCI labeled the course at Weald Country Park[7] "too easy" in July 2008.[8] It was touted that the course could be created in Wales.[9] A location in Kent was also considered.[10]
Qualification
Competition schedule
Template:2012OlympicCyclingSchedule
Medalists
Medal table
| 1 |  Great Britain |
8 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 2 |  Germany |
1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 |  France |
1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 |  Australia |
1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 |  United States |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 |  Colombia |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 |  Netherlands |
1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 |  Kazakhstan |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Denmark |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Latvia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Czech Republic |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 12 |  China |
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 |  New Zealand |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 |  Switzerland |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 |  Russia |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 16 |  Canada |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Hong Kong |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Norway |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Italy |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 18 | 18 | 19 | 55 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Road cycling
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's road race |
Alexander Vinokourov Kazakhstan
|
Rigoberto Urán Colombia
|
Alexander Kristoff Norway
|
| Women's road race |
Marianne Vos Netherlands
|
Lizzie Armitstead Great Britain
|
Olga Zabelinskaya Russia
|
| Men's time trial |
Bradley Wiggins Great Britain
|
Tony Martin Germany
|
Chris Froome Great Britain
|
| Women's time trial |
Kristin Armstrong United States
|
Judith Arndt Germany
|
Olga Zabelinskaya Russia
|
Track cycling
Mountain biking
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's cross-country |
Jaroslav Kulhavý Czech Republic
|
Nino Schurter Switzerland
|
Marco Aurelio Fontana Italy
|
| Women's cross-country |
Julie Bresset France
|
Sabine Spitz Germany
|
Georgia Gould United States
|
BMX
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men |
Māris Štrombergs Latvia
|
Sam Willoughby Australia
|
Carlos Oquendo Colombia
|
| Women |
Mariana Pajón Colombia
|
Sarah Walker New Zealand
|
Laura Smulders Netherlands
|
Gallery
Gallery of some of the Olympic gold medalists in the cycling competitions:
-
Bradley Wiggins, of Great Britain, won the men's time trial -
Chris Hoy, representing Great Britain, won golds in the men's team sprint and men's Keirin -
Victoria Pendleton, from Great Britain, won silver in the women's individual sprint and gold in the women's Keirin -
Anna Meares, from Australia, won the women's individual sprint -
Germany's Kristina Vogel won a gold in the women's team sprint -
Mariana Pajón won Colombia's first 2012 gold in the BMX tournament
References
- ^ "VeloPark". Retrieved 11 December 2009. [dead link]
- ^ "Hadleigh Farm, Essex". Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- ^ "The Mall | Venues". London 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
- ^ "IOC approves new events for London 2012". IOC. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
- ^ "London 2012 website on road cycling". London2012.com. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
- ^ "BBC Sport – Brands Hatch to host London 2012 Paralympic cycling". BBC News. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
- ^ "BBC SPORT | Olympics | London 2012 | Essex venue to host 2012 biking". BBC News. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
- ^ "BBC SPORT | Olympics & Olympic sport | London 2012 | Mountain bike course 'too easy'". BBC News. 1 February 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
- ^ "UK | Wales | Coe dampens mountain bike hopes". BBC News. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
- ^ Keith Bingham (15 August 2008). "Lord Coe selects Hadleigh in Essex as 2012 Olympic mtb venue | Olympics 2012". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
External links
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