About Jamie Scott
Jamie Scott is a registered Personal Trainer and a Nutritionist. He consults to a wide variety of athletes, writing strength and conditioning and performance nutrition programmes for them. And he is the manager of the up and coming Platinum Sport, a Christchurch fitness centre geared toward everyone who rides.
E: jamie[at]platinumsport.co.nz
P: 021 324 846
| The New Zealand Olympic Committee has selected a seven-strong team to contest the track cycling programme for the Beijing Olympic Games.
The BikeNZ riders have qualified for six events in Beijing, with an initial seven-strong squad named today.
BikeNZ High Performance Director Mark Elliott said that other riders may be added to the team to provide the best options for an exhaustive Olympic programme.
New Zealand has qualified for the men’s points race, men’s and women’s individual pursuit, men’s team pursuit, men’s Madison and the women’s points race.
New Zealand Olympic Committee Secretary General and Olympic Selector Barry Maister is delighted to welcome yet another group of exceptional athletes to the New Zealand Olympic Team to Beijing 2008. “We’ve named sixty athletes in the last five months and each of them has clearly met our tough selection criteria for Beijing 2008. The track cycling team is no different and I have no doubt the New Zealanders who take on the world in Beijing this August will make us proud.”
The team is headed by 2004 world scratch race champion Greg Henderson, who was fifth at the recent world championships in the Points race and has been one of the world’s top ranked points race riders over the last two years.
Ashburton’s Hayden Roulston has made a spectacular return to the international scene after returning from a premature retirement forced on him by an irregular heart beat. He made a successive return to the road last year and this year set the fastest time ever by a New Zealander in finishing fourth in the individual pursuit at the recent world championships. He was part of the team that finished fourth in the team pursuit and was ninth in the Madison with Henderson.
Timaru’s Marc Ryan, a top four ranked pursuit rider on the World Cup circuit over the last 12 months, was part of the team pursuit squad that finished fourth at the world championships, along with Roulston, Sam Bewley (Rotorua), Wesley Gough (Waipukurau) and Jesse Sergent (Palmerston North).
Dunedin’s Alison Shanks is the only female to be named at present, earning her place after a series of personal best performances in the individual pursuit that saw her ranked fourth in the World Cup circuit over the last 12 months and seventh at the world championships this year.
Overall Elliott is extremely pleased with the strength of the team having watched their commitment and focus at the recent World Championships in Manchester
“Track cycling is a true global sport with all of the world’s best professionals competing in Beijing,” he said.
“We are going there with all riders in this initial squad ranked inside the top 10 and with most of them in the top five. We are not going to Beijing to make up the numbers but to be competitive.”
He said they would look to nominate other riders following the announcement of the final team (road, mountainbike and BMX) in June based on their ability to cover key events on the track programme.
“This will depend on form as well, which will be the determining aspect of selection for the women’s Points race spot.”
Elliott said the programme at Beijing is particularly challenging.
“For instance there are three rounds of the men’s team pursuit in Beijing. If we want to give our team the best possible chance then we need to use a squad to have fresh legs.”
Elliott said that the team was an excellent mix of proven experience as well as young riders out of the BikeNZ development programme.
Henderson is a fulltime profession with the highly rated High Road team in Europe while Roulston has returned to his brilliant best. Shanks is a young rider with exception prospects with Gough, Bewley and Sargent all members of the 2005 world junior championship winning pursuit team.
There was no place for world Omnium champion Hayden Godfrey (Christchurch) in the team.
“Hayden’s event is unfortunately not in the Olympics. He is a great all-round rider and a true World Champion but this team was nominated on the best specialists for each event that we will compete in at Beijing.”
A final decision on which riders will race which events will be made just before Beijing.
The team is: Greg Henderson (Dunedin), Hayden Roulston (Ashburton), Wesley Gough (Waipukurau), Jesse Sergent (Palmerston North), Sam Bewley (Rotorua), Marc Ryan (Timaru), Alison Shanks (Dunedin). |
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