IOC clears British cyclist of deliberate crash

[beijingwalker]

IOC clears British cyclist of deliberate crash
2:00 AM Saturday Aug 4, 2012

Great Britain cyclist Philip Hindes celebrates winning a gold medal. Source / AP

An apparent deliberate crash by British track cycling gold medalist Philip Hindes for tactical reasons is not being investigated, the International Olympic Committee said Saturday.

The incident in the team sprint final Friday raised further questions about athletes' ethical behavior at the London Games after four women's badminton pairs were disqualified for playing to lose.

Hindes told reporters that team strategy was "if we have a bad start we need to crash to get a restart."

The 19-year-old wobbled starting the three-lap race against France and fell at the first bend. The British trio, including Chris Hoy, won the restarted race.

"I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really," Hindes reportedly said immediately after the race. He modified his comments at the official news conference to say he lost control of his bike.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said it agreed with the International Cycling Union that "the result is not in question."

"They are obviously aware of the situation, and at this stage they don't see any reason to question the result. At this stage neither do we," Adams told reporters.

The badminton scandal saw teams from China, Indonesia and South Korea expelled from the Olympics on Wednesday for deliberately losing in order to manipulate their route through the knockout stages. The teams were booed off court by spectators at Wembley Arena.

Adams said the cycling incident was different because paying fans "were not deprived of a competition."

"The race took place and I believe we could clearly say that best efforts were made in that competition by the British team," he said.

French officials did not formally complain about the British tactic.

"You have to make the most of the rules. You have to play with them in a competition and no one should complain about that," the France teams's technical director, Isabelle Gautheron, told the Associated Press.

Still, Gautheron doubted that her riders would have done the same thing.

"Hindes prepared for that possibility and knew exactly what to do after his poor start. We don't share the same kind of mindset," she said.

- AP

 

[beijingwalker]

Tactical cycling crash compared to doping
20:24 AEST Fri Aug 3 2012

Australian Olympic track bronze medallist Kaarle McCulloch says deliberately crashing out of a cycling event to secure a re-start is on par with doping.

The 24-year old who won bronze in the women's team sprint on Thursday with teammate Anna Meares says the action of British cyclist Philip Hindes - who admitted deliberately crashing for tactical reasons during qualifying for the men's team sprint - was unethical.

"Of course it is," she said during an Australian team media conference on Friday.

"You don't want to see anybody gain an advantage over doing something like that. It's like doping. You assume everybody that you go up against is fair and they wouldn't go to those extremes."

Despite German-born Hindes' admission trackside post race that "I did it on purpose to get a restart", British cycling say the cyclist was misunderstood - because English is his second language.

With teammates Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny, the 19-year old went on to secure gold in the event ahead of France.

"I can't imagine that Phillip would have done that on purpose," McCulloch said of the crash which she witnessed at the Olympic velodrome.

Cycling rules dictate that athletes can request a re-start if they experience mechanical issues during the first half lap. Each team is also permitted one restart for a false start.

"Obviously with a crash you'll get an automatic re-run and to be honest I wouldn't want to crash in front of my teammates, potentially causing them to crash as well," McCulloch said.

Hindes wobbled at the start gate, lost control of his bike and tumbled down the steep track on the first bend of the controversial qualifier.

Afterwards he told reporters: "We were saying if we had a bad start we need to crash to get a restart. I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really."

The International Cycling Union (ICU) confirmed the result was legitimate, and French coach Florian Rousseau accepted the result but said Hindes' ploy was a poor example of Olympic spirit.

"There was no cheating. The British team was much stronger than the French team and I congratulate them on their success," he said.

"However, I do think the rules need to be more precise so we don't find ourselves in an identical situation at another Olympic Games.

"The fact that he (Hindes) did it on purpose is not very good for the image of cycling. We must reflect on how we can adapt the rules so that does not happen again in future."

 

[ajtr]

Lot many controversies in London Olympics.

 

[beijingwalker]

"There was no cheating. The British team was much stronger than the French team and I congratulate them on their success," he said.

double standard,our top seed badminton players are also the best in the world,but still got expelled from the games.

 

[Ashesh]

He deliberately crashed to get a restart and doesn't get disqualified but then the Badminton players who deliberately lost points to get an easier opponents in the next round get disqualified. where is the consistency? All parties (badminton players and the GB sprint Team) should be sanctioned. The audience have paid to watch sport played on a fair platform. if you make a bad start then tough luck, carry on and make the effort to over come that. DO NOT CHEAT !!!

 

[beijingwalker]

this London Olympics is a big mess,we should never let such an incompetent country to host such a big international event.Beijing's Olympics was nothing short of perfection,and this London Olympics is nothing short of a disaster.

 

[Ashesh]

Indian Team Won Two out of 3 Matches and Still did not qualify in Badminton's doubles events. You are Some How Correct about the Double Standards.

 

[beijingwalker]

deliberate crash is way more worse to get an advantage is way worse than choosing an easier opponent.

 

[kawaraj]

Scandal London 2012

 

[SinoChallenger]

Despite German-born Hindes' admission trackside post race that "I did it on purpose to get a restart", British cycling say the cyclist was misunderstood - because English is his second language.

"I did it on purpose to get a restart" in German means "My fault. I spun out of control, crashed and so we need to start again."

 

[timetravel]

deliberate crash is way more worse to get an advantage is way worse than choosing an easier opponent.

Yes agree with that.. The Cyclist should be disqualified. Also the Indian Women's Doubles Badminton Team Should have Qualified for the Finals.

 

[beijingwalker]

they mixed North and South Korea's national flags,let Miss nobody walk along with Indian flag bearer in the opening ceremony,they even put out the Olympic torch..how many scandals should we expect from this disastrous Olympics?

Yes agree with that.. The Cyclist should be disqualified. Also the Indian Women's Doubles Badminton Team Should have Qualified for the Finals.

what happened to Indian Women's Doubles Badminton Team?

 

[Sonyuke_Songpaisan]

 

[beijingwalker]

we dont ask for preference,we only ask for fair play and justice which we can't see in this Olympics.

 

[Zulkarneyn]

They don't get warnings or anything while the badminton players are expelled? Where is the consistency, oh sorry i forgot it was the British team, so nothing wrong with it. Hypocrisy when it is best, is what this is called.