spoiler: BMX

deal

I thought the French woman Chausson looked better over the event and deservedly got gold, Reade almost took her out with a crazy move on the final bend running into Chausson's rear wheel - a move that resulted in a crash for Reade costing her a certain medal.

I think Reade managed to crash three times in total - and all due to her own errors. Reade looked fast but kept making mistakes and taking poor lines.

richa

Yup. Not on form this week.

3 crashes in 6 runs made Gold impossible.

Bronzie

Think the pressure of expectation got to Shanaze - that crash in the first semi run was a real schoolgirl error

leguape

ACC showed her experience into the first corner - just needed to be level and keep Shanaze off the line she wanted then duck inside her and hold the best line. Gutted for Shanaze but at least she wanted to win it, not settle for silver.

NervexProf

Bronzie wrote:

Think the pressure of expectation got to Shanaze - that crash in the first semi run was a real schoolgirl error

An account here, post the race..
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 586079.ece
acknowledges that Shanaze is a two time
World Champion, and of course she has a gold medal in the team sprint on the track.

I salute Shanaze; she could have settled for second.

She will be back!

leguape

Another good piece here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/olympics/200 ... ds_in.html

Got to be impressed by the ambition of Shanaze and her sheer balls to try stuff and back herself.

cougie

Not a great competition for her - but I think she was right to risk everything for the gold in the heat of the race.

LangerDan

leguape wrote:

Another good piece here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/olympics/200 ... ds_in.html

Got to be impressed by the ambition of Shanaze and her sheer balls to try stuff and back herself.

If thats true, WADA may be calling around........

deal

haha whats the protocol for ensuring that females are infact females ? urine tests or erm physical inspection...

daniel_b

cougie wrote:

I think she was right to risk everything for the gold in the heat of the race.

Agreed.

samoff

Here's a thing: they made a big deal of the fact that Shanaze has had a copy of the Beijing course to practice on in Manchester. But how similar could it really be? If you're practicing on a course that's almost the same but not exactly identical then surely it'll mess you up when you go onto the real thing.
On that first time-trail, she came off because she expected to be able to bank the bike on the corner more steeply than the tarmac would allow. The second time it was the landing from one of the jumps that threw her off.

I'm no expert, I'm just throwing it out there.

eh

Shanaze's ride just smacked of immaturity compared to ACC's, who showed her class all the way through. It is all very well saying you shouldn't settle for less than gold, but sometimes you have to accept that you are beaten and silver is a lot better than last. Plus it is no shame getting beaten by almost certainly the best female bike handler ever.

Hopefully Shanaze will learn that to win sometimes you have to be more calculating and stay out of trouble.

ddraver

what exactly are those berms made of?!?!

Watching the highlights its unbeleivable how many of them just wash out rather than go down because of someone else's intervention (shanaze is an exception obvioulsy)

some time spent practicing cornering would help them abit i reckon (In my expert opinion obviously :P )

- oh and thats a little harsh eh, It was all or nothing attempt for the gold, and this time it came to nothing unfortunatly - see Sam Hill in the DH WC this year too -

thamacdaddy

eh wrote:

Shanaze's ride just smacked of immaturity compared to ACC's, who showed her class all the way through. It is all very well saying you shouldn't settle for less than gold, but sometimes you have to accept that you are beaten and silver is a lot better than last. Plus it is no shame getting beaten by almost certainly the best female bike handler ever.

Hopefully Shanaze will learn that to win sometimes you have to be more calculating and stay out of trouble.

Not too sure I 100% agree on that personally as she obviously took the wrong line (or was forced to) on the first corner. In a race where its 30secs you hardly have much chance to make any mistakes. She went all out final bend to try and regain the position and came off....hardly immature in my book but a 50-50 to do or not to do. If it had worked then it would have been a great move so I think its a little harsh to really lay the blame at her feet in such a way - she hadn't been beat in a long time coming into this.

Eurostar

This story says she was "relegated for her risky manouevre" http://olympics.sportinglife.com/olympi ... 46,00.html

Puzzling. Such a crazy, dangerous sport...did her attempt to come inside ACC really break any rules? I didn't know they had any! Perhaps the commissaires thought she had deliberately tried to take ACC out?

Her coach said that the reason she crashed on the seeding run was because she put in one extra turn on the pedal on the berm, to try to get more speed. His comment was something like "that's Shanaze for you". If she had stuck to her usual plan she would have avoided that first crash and all the nerves and hesitancy in the subsequent runs. She really should have won the final after leading into the first corner, but her llne on that first berm was rubbish and she slacked off on the speed, either because she wae nervy or hampered by her injuries. What a waste! She really should have won but completely lost the plot - all her crashes were her own fault.

ddraver

Having watched it again i think ACC pretty much had the measure of her the whole race - She took the right line to overtake on the first corner and then held her off expertly on the others - on the final berm Shanaze just had to go inside to overtake and ended up not giving herself enough space to turn the corner, more so when ACC cut her off.

Shame for Shanaze but ACC was just better, I suppose thats the difference from spending a year preparing for the BMX having been on the track previously or spending all your time doing DH/4X etc where you learn all the tricks in the book for stopping someone getting past

eh

I'm not sure how my comments are harsh when Boardman has said her crash in the semis was because she attempted a jump that the coaches had told her not to attempt. Also David Brailsford comment of "..and in the final you probably saw experience over youth," pretty much backs up my point.

Still not quite sure how she managed to crash on that final berm, yes she was trying to carry more speed but surely you steer/brake to avoid hitting the person in front, not just clatter into them!

Ah well I'm pleased ACC won as it just confirms she is one of the top women cyclist ever, up there with Beryl Burton and Longo IMO. But it would have been better if Shanaze had taken the silver.

Eurostar

Shanaze is used to leading for the whole race, so perhaps she's not practised at making up lost ground. Her attempted overtake looked a bit doomed and desperate.

She had the lane of her choice, she was leading into that first berm...but I think she changed her usual strategy by easing off mid-berm and taking a higher line because she was afraid of crashing again. It made it all very easy for ACC to overtake.

heathy_76

eh wrote:

I'm not sure how my comments are harsh when Boardman has said her crash in the semis was because she attempted a jump that the coaches had told her not to attempt. Also David Brailsford comment of "..and in the final you probably saw experience over youth," pretty much backs up my point..

The difference is that Chris Boardman is an Olympian himself and also head of the cycling team.
How many people who are posting critical remarks about a 19 year old girl in her first Olympics have qualified for an Oylmpic final themselves? :roll:

It's a shame they don't have a Keyboard Olympics.

Eurostar

There's no getting away from the fact that she screwed up. Anyone with a TV (and a keyboard) can see that. She's beaten ACC many times before. ACC didn't pull anything extra out of the bag, she was second into the first corner, and she would have stayed in second if only Shanaze had stuck to her usual line and pace. Shanaze lost the race on the first berm and couldn't possibly have passed ACC on the last berm unless ACC had taken a bad line or washed out.

another jacko

Shanaze is a class act and will win many many more titles over her career. I'm gutted for her that she didn't get the gold, but ACC was better and did deserve it. Shanaze has already conceded that she screwed it up this time and shown that she has the maturity to recognise her immaturity.

The biggest risk to her career is that she has such potential to become a 'celebrity' that it might distract her from the sport. However, if she can successfully combine the two, and I hope she does, she could be one of our biggest sporting stars ever. Everything about her - athleticism, guts, personality, style - is good for the future of our sport and drawing more young people into it. I wish her well

ddraver

another jacko wrote:

The biggest risk to her career is that she has such potential to become a 'celebrity' that it might distract her from the sport.

Dude she's a cyclist -no one (else) will remember her after a week.......

We re still in the UK remember, if its not the premier league no one cares

another jacko

You're right that kids media won't be interested in geeky Nicole Cooke, physical freak Chris Hoy or Roboto Romero no matter how many medals they've won.

But Shanaze is not just a cyclist - She's a cool black chick with attitude and balls. She'll start by doing the rounds of kids TV showing her scars.

Trust me, wach this space.

Eurostar

Now that Shanaze is officially a star, maybe we'll get some press coverage of her at the Championnats d'Europe Piste, Pruskow on Sept 3? The Independent says she's suposed to be going, broken hand notwithstanding.

leguape

Eurostar wrote:

There's no getting away from the fact that she screwed up. Anyone with a TV (and a keyboard) can see that. She's beaten ACC many times before. ACC didn't pull anything extra out of the bag, she was second into the first corner, and she would have stayed in second if only Shanaze had stuck to her usual line and pace. Shanaze lost the race on the first berm and couldn't possibly have passed ACC on the last berm unless ACC had taken a bad line or washed out.

ACC rode a near-perfect race and outfoxed Shanaze who admits she pushed too hard. ACC held her just far enough to the inside on the approach to the first corner than Shanaze was forced to go high carrying too much speed while ACC swept along the best line. When Shanaze came outside her she pinned her high up the second berm forcing her to have to back off and come inside and giving herself the clear run into the final corner knowing that she had the line and forcing the error from Shanaze. You can't pretend that it was just Shanaze's error in the total absence of ACC's riding and control.

Eurostar

So why doesn't that happen every time they race each other? Has it ever happened before? According to Porter, Shanaze has only ever been headed once, and it wasn't by ACC.

Maybe Shanaze usually gets a bigger lead into the first turn, making it impossible for anybody to crowd her. But perhaps this time, maybe because of her injuries, she was a bit slower off the mark, allowing ACC to push her to the inside.

ddraver

www.freecaster.com

That ll be the only place that shows it unless all football, rugby league, Horseriding/racing, rowing, swimming, motor racing, athletics and tiddlywinks is called off

I'm on your side btw - its a real shame!

drenkrom

leguape wrote:

Got to be impressed by the ambition of Shanaze and her sheer balls to try stuff and back herself.

I can not be impressed by someone who tries to T-bone the leader in the last corner. Dirty, dirty move, whether planned or not.

micron

Transferable skills and all that - ACC has outstanding palmares having won 15 Rainbow Jerseys

leguape

drenkrom wrote:

leguape wrote:

Got to be impressed by the ambition of Shanaze and her sheer balls to try stuff and back herself.

I can not be impressed by someone who tries to T-bone the leader in the last corner. Dirty, dirty move, whether planned or not.

Tried to T-Bone her? *Asterix tappy head gesture* she got too deep into the corner and ACC pulled a tighter line, she clipped the back wheel trying to get inside her. That's BMX.

squired

I just don't see how this is an Olympic event. The only people I know with BMXs are 5 years old. As for the race, I'm glad that in the process of hitting the rear wheel of the leader she didn't take her out too.