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Olympic MTB selection one step closer
By Sue George
Mountain bikers will now fight for their nation’s Olympic slots
The UCI’s national rankings which determine starting spots for each nation at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, were released on Thursday. The numbers, which were compiled from mountain bike races between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2007 placed France and China atop the men’s and women’s rankings, respectively.
The overall scores were determined by adding each nation’s final 2007 ranking to its 2006 ranking. A nation’s ranking for any given season was the result of adding together the point totals of its top-three athletes in individual rankings. The teams within the top five of the men’s rankings get to send three men to Beijing while the top eight women’s teams are allowed to send two women each to Beijing.
Look for three men to represent France (7864 points), Switzerland (7349 points), Spain (5472 points), Belgium (4364 points) and Germany (4353 points). The United States will not be among the teams sending three men. Due to its sixth-placed ranking (4224 points), it will send only two men.
On the women’s side, The People’s Republic of China came out at the top - it will send two women based on its ranking (7236 points) to the Olympic Games held on home turf. Other teams eligible to send two women will include Germany (6346 points), the United States (6193 points), Canada (6182 points), Norway (4957 points), Poland (4849 points), Russia (4576 points) and Switzerland (4478 points).
Other nations are not out of the running. For the men, nations ranked from sixth to 13th get to send two riders each and nations ranked from 14th to 24th get to send one rider each. For the women, nations ranked between 9th and 18th get to send one rider each.
The nations’ rankings are used in the first criterion for selection, but a second criterion, placement at 2007 Continental Championships for Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania (but not Europe), also plays a role. “The UCI will inform the National Olympic Committees at the beginning of January of the number of qualification places they have obtained according to criterion 1 (UCI ranking by nation) or criterion 2 (2007 Continental Championships).”
The UCI’s selection document states that per criterion 2, nations finishing in the top two men’s rankings or top of the women’s rankings for each Continental Championship (if not otherwise qualified per criterion 1) get to send one male or female rider respectively. The UCI will confirm with the federations how many athletes each can send to the Olympics by January 11.
This 2008 qualification system was unlike that for 2004 because it considered points for nations’ rankings not just for the year prior to the Games, but two years prior. The change rewards countries for consistency over a longer period of time and it protects traditional mountain bike powerhouses from a lacklustre pre-Olympic year that could be caused by illness or injury suffered by one of its star riders.
UCI Olympic Nations Ranking Men
Qualified to send three men per criterion 1
1 France 7864 pts
2 Switzerland 7349
3 Spain 5472
4 Belgium 4364
5 Germany 4353
Qualified to send two men per criterion 1
6 United States Of America 4224
7 Netherlands 3724
8 Sweden 3695
9 Canada 3462
10 Austria 3261
11 Denmark 3218
12 Italy 3175
13 Great Britain 2997
Qualified to send one man per criterion 1
14 Czech Republic 2854
15 New Zealand 2532
16 Australia 2276
17 Poland 2249
18 Russian Federation 1855
19 Colombia 1773
20 Ukraine 1754
21 Brazil 1701
22 Chile 1652
23 South Africa 1477
24 Ireland 1455
UCI Olympic Nations Ranking Women
Qualified to send two women per criterion 1
1 People’s Republic of China 7236 pts
2 Germany 6346
3 United States Of America 6193
4 Canada 6182
5 Norway 4957
6 Poland 4849
7 Russian Federation 4576
8 Switzerland 4478
Qualified to send one woman per criterion 1
9 France 3931
10 Czech Republic 3643
11 Spain 3574
12 Slovenia 3412
13 Netherlands 3311
14 Austria 3190
15 New Zealand 2928
16 Italy 2701
17 Sweden 1988
18 Brazil 1944