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China coach says track cyclists were 'robbed'
By SAMUEL PETREQUIN
The Associated Press
LONDON — The coach of the Chinese Olympic track cycling team said Friday that Guo Shuang and Gong Jinjie were "robbed" of a gold medal when they were disqualified for a rule violation.
Daniel Morelon told The Associated Press that China cannot appeal the decision in the team sprint final.
Guo and Gong twice improved on the world record Thursday and posted the best time in the final against their German rivals before they were disqualified for an illegal relay. Germany was awarded gold and China silver.
"The race jury decision was not clear at all," said Morelon, a 1972 Olympic champion in the individual sprint who has been working with the Chinese team since the Beijing Olympics.
He said Guo and Gong had ridden exactly the same in qualifying and the first round and logically should have been disqualified then if they did anything wrong.
"This is an injustice," Morelon said. "They robbed us of the gold medal. A gold medal which was really important for the Chinese people because they are still looking for their first gold in cycling. They would have made history."
A spokeswoman for the world governing body of cycling, Enrico Carpani, said in an email to the AP that there is no longer an appeals process in cycling.
Morelon said that he tried in vain to persuade race officials to overrule the decision to disqualify the Chinese pair and got only a vague explanation. He said the president of the race jury claimed to be in a hurry.
"I asked him to see the video footage of the race on slow motion, but he refused," Morelon said.
Morelon said he believes not all nations are not treated equally at the London Velodrome and lashed out at an "amateurish" decision.
He said the British team who went on to win the gold medal in the team's sprint on Thursday should have been disqualified in the first round.
"When you look at the video, the British come out of their lane before the dedicated zone," Morelon said. "When the French coach tried to show the video to the commissaires, they did not want to see it."
Chinese Cycling Team Appeals for the Relegated Silver
2012-08-03 22:05:36 Xinhua
Chinese cycling national team appealed to UCI and IOC for the relegated silver in women's team sprint on Friday. China on Thursday picked up a silver medal after being relegated from gold for making a lane change in the final.
Chinese cycling national team appealed to UCI and IOC for the relegated silver in women's team sprint on Friday.
In an official communique, the Chinese cycling team said that "Gong jinjie and her teammate Guo Shuang beat the record twice, in the qualifying and the first round. In the final, Chinese team beat Germany with a result of 32.617, but was relegated to 2nd place by the referee who did not show any video replay."
"After the race, I came to the referee, they did not show any video replay to me. The Chinese team did not break any rule," said Chinese team coach Daniel Morelon.
"We watched the video of the race many times after coming back to the Athlete's village, We analyzed the regulation and rules of the game, We believe that Chinese cyclits did not break any rules." said the Chineses team's communique.
China on Thursday picked up a silver medal in the women's cycling team sprint after being relegated from gold for making a lane change in the final.
According to a communique issued by the IOC, National team of China was relegated to 2nd place in the heat for early realy, based on Art 3.2.153. However, the communique did not specify how Chinese cyclist break the rule.
The UCI reported that error (Chinese team) was in not conforming to the overtaking zone that the two competitors had chosen at the point of the relay passage."
The women's team sprint is a track cycling event contested by teams of two women cyclists. The format consists of two rounds: in the first round, teams compete against the clock to set a qualifying time. The top four teams go through to the final round, where the first and second placed teams compete against each other in the gold medal race-off and the third and fourth teams compete against each other in the bronze medal race-off. It was the first time this event being added to the Olympic programme.
