Report: GB Paralympic Team in Australia - Part 7

 

Posted 12 Feb 2007

Report & Pics - Team Manager Dave Mellor

Australian Open Track National Championships, Sydney

 

The final day of competition for the GB Para-Cycling Team at the Australian Open National Championships was the team sprint and the event that has the most internal competition for places. It's also the event that has given the team the most amount of frustration as we have yet to record a placing at a major championship. The last two outings have resulted in disqualifications for infringements in the changeover but we were hoping for better things here.

 

A tenth gold medal for the team - a great way to end their stay in Oz

Better things meant a victory of course but also a new World best time. We had set a World best at the Visa Paralympic World Cup in May last year where we unveiled our secret weapon of swimmer turned cyclist Jody Cundy but in another one of those occasions when I locked horns with officialdom the record was not ratified because Jody had not been officially classified for Cycling. Now I reckon that even a member of the viewing public could have given Jody a classification, missing the lower part of a leg and wearing a prosthesis is a pretty big clue and if Swimming can recognise that, surely all that is needed is a rubber stamp. Apparently not!

Things did not go totally smoothly as the Victorian Team protested that we were fielding an incorrect team. The Team Sprint started as a competition for LC competitors but as the CP guys started to get more proficient and faster they were allowed into the mix. Each team must have a team composition that totals at least 6 points but no more than 2 riders with the same points score (you cannot run with 3 x 2 point athletes) and the classic combination is a LC3 + LC2 and LC1 for a total of 6 points. The rules now say that CP3 can be substituted for a 3 point score and a CP4 for a 2 point score. Our combo was therefore Darren Kenny CP3 + Jody Cundy LC2 + Rik Waddon CP4 (2 points) for a total of 7 points so we were actually giving a point away to the Victorians. A phone call from the Chief Comm to the UCI confirmed our interpretation and it's a pretty good job as that trio do have a IPC/UCI ratified World Best of 51.910.

 

Motivation, thanks to mechanic Spike Taylor

Spike our mechanic set up the bikes with a very special message to pysch up the guys, white valve hole covers with the target time written on bold and large that team captain Jody Cundy was pushing the guys to deliver. The commentator thought that was a great move and really did his best to wind up the crowd to help our guys on the way. To the start and Rik Waddon delivered a perfect lap with a competition PB of 21.4secs for the first lap out of the gate, Darren Kenny then sped around the track in 15.9 to deliver Jody Cundy for that all important last lap where he ticked off one his season goals of a sub 15sec lap to finish with a fantastic time of 52.270.

A little bit off our World Best but we know that, with aero hats, best wheels, competition for places from our US based rider Mark Bristow and Gary Williams to drive on performance plus the addition of more track time to work on technique, we are going to be very hard to beat.

 

Postscript - Home Time!

 

It's now Sunday Morning and we've just had our team meeting where we've outlined the next stage of the camp. Freight to be collected at 10am on Monday morning before our afternoon flight back to Melbourne enroute to Beijing. Although we will be in an Olympic/Paralympic Village next year that could actually be anywhere in the World, they do all seem the same as these major games, it is very important that we give the athletes a chance to experience the "Chinese Way". Red Tape, Spitting, attitudes to Disabled people, pollution, air quality the list can go on and on. I know that it's a hard ask right now, seemingly wasted days when friends and family are waiting at home but come August 2008 when Gold medals are at stake these sacrifices will prove very very worthwhile.