The One Rider Per Country Rule
Why does it only apply to track cycling? I'm watching BMX and they are riding more than one per country (as was the case in the road). Rick will be happy though as it looks like the Dutch have found a cycle sport they are quite good at 
I still can't take the sport seriously, I'd love to have their leg speed but grown men (and women) riding a bike designed for little kids to mess about on just seems so wrong.
I still can't take the sport seriously, I'd love to have their leg speed but grown men (and women) riding a bike designed for little kids to mess about on just seems so wrong.
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I was wondering whether it's just the sheer numbers of riders to process in competition, but also to fit in the track centre.
Clearly if there are more riders there'll be more rounds to fit in the track schedule. Would it make things too tight?
Do you only allow say 32 riders per discipline, it being those top 32 that qualify (regardless of how many per nation qualify)? In which case it doesn't allow nations who traditionally don't have a huge number of riders.
If it's down to a total number of athletes in all sports then I think other sports need to be looked at. Personally I'm on a crusade to lessen the number of swimming events. The fact that one swimmer can win or be competitive in so many different races means that those races are too alike. Cull some of them.0 -
BMXing, slightly OT...why do they manual over some of the rollers? What makes this faster than riding over with both wheels on the ground?0
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ddraver wrote:If you can't see the skill in this then I feel sorry for you....
WRT the One rider rule - if you think about it it ONLY applies to the Track, not in Road or MTBing either (I think)...
I didn't say I couldn't see the skill - I certainly can and there is a lot of crossover with track. I would love to be able to generate that sort of leg speed. I said I couldn't take it seriously, that's more to do with the riders looking like they've mugged some kid in the street and stolen their bike. Horses (or bikes!) for courses I know and the small, agile bike is what they need - it just looks odd when ridden by someone who is 6' tall and 14 stone. I actually quite enjoy the racing.
I realise the rule only applies to track but why only apply it to track? It's easy to believe the conspiracy theory that it was to stop GB dominating (which it blatantly failed to do) but I can't imagine that was really the reason, surely? Obviously for a road race you need more riders but if it is all about getting more countries involved then apply it to the TT, BMX and MTB as well.0 -
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1. Easier to pump the downhill bits and soak up the uphill bits for speed with the front wheel kept uppb21 wrote:
2. The bike moving in the air is both about changing direction slightly and keeping the bike under control optimally. It's actually easier to land fast when you've moved the bike around a bit than when you just allow the bike to fly as it wants, because you choose how you land.0 -
hammerite wrote:BMXing, slightly OT...why do they manual over some of the rollers? What makes this faster than riding over with both wheels on the ground?
Essentially you get more "pump" down the other side. They absorb the up slope with their legs then push hard down the other side to gain speedWe're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
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Thanks WAIH and DDR. Makes sense.0
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Pross wrote:I realise the rule only applies to track but why only apply it to track? It's easy to believe the conspiracy theory that it was to stop GB dominating (which it blatantly failed to do) but I can't imagine that was really the reason, surely?
No, genuinely I think that's it...or to "make it more fair" for the other nations.
UCI genius again! Makes me happy they don't dick about in MTBing too much.We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
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Pross wrote:I realise the rule only applies to track but why only apply it to track? It's easy to believe the conspiracy theory that it was to stop GB dominating (which it blatantly failed to do) but I can't imagine that was really the reason, surely? Obviously for a road race you need more riders but if it is all about getting more countries involved then apply it to the TT, BMX and MTB as well.
I would suggest that track is very much dominated by a small number of countries. Which is not a problem shared by road.
A couple of years back I looked at the number of track meetings year on year, and it was in decline. So perhaps the UCI are aware of this and trying to stimulate it at Olympic level. Who knows.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
hammerite wrote:I was wondering whether it's just the sheer numbers of riders to process in competition, but also to fit in the track centre.
Clearly if there are more riders there'll be more rounds to fit in the track schedule. Would it make things too tight?
Do you only allow say 32 riders per discipline, it being those top 32 that qualify (regardless of how many per nation qualify)? In which case it doesn't allow nations who traditionally don't have a huge number of riders.
If it's down to a total number of athletes in all sports then I think other sports need to be looked at. Personally I'm on a crusade to lessen the number of swimming events. The fact that one swimmer can win or be competitive in so many different races means that those races are too alike. Cull some of them.
Hutch Tweeted mid way through the track programme about how thin it was so I don't think the number of events / athletes is a problem.0 -
The legend's view - http://m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/ ... pe=article - Good on ya Chris!We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
It was done by the \UC|i to specifically prevent UK winning os many medals but obviously failled. Nothing to do with number of entries that can easily be controlled with qualifiying times/placings in events. Cav could not ride olympic track as he did not have qualifying events and points in world cup, yet Bauge could enter the road race and fosterman the MTB!! Farcical.iainf72 wrote:Pross wrote:I realise the rule only applies to track but why only apply it to track? It's easy to believe the conspiracy theory that it was to stop GB dominating (which it blatantly failed to do) but I can't imagine that was really the reason, surely? Obviously for a road race you need more riders but if it is all about getting more countries involved then apply it to the TT, BMX and MTB as well.
I would suggest that track is very much dominated by a small number of countries. Which is not a problem shared by road.
A couple of years back I looked at the number of track meetings year on year, and it was in decline. So perhaps the UCI are aware of this and trying to stimulate it at Olympic level. Who knows.0 -
Oh and to cap it all, tonight Jamaica won gold,silver.bronze in 200m? so whats the difference? We could have had Kenny Hoy and A.Nother in sprint, could have had Swifty in the Omnium also.
As for keeping interest, reducing events will reduce interest far more than multiple riders per event ever will. As exciting as the omnium is, theres not many people who can or want to ride them.0 -
[boring roadie chat] the track entry requirements are the least of the UCI's problems [/boring roadie chat].0
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The Americans have won a large number of swimming medals - let's reduce A: the number of swimming events (it's a joke) and B: the number of swimmers allowed to qualify per country.
As for track cycling, as others have said, it's partly to reduce the number of medals the top countries can win. Last time GB was not only winning Gold, but Silver/Bronze in some events also.
It's a real shame that track cycling seems to have been picked on quite a bit leading up to these Games with the elimination of 2 men's events and the single rider/country rule. Obviously I'm biased, but think track cycling is a fantastic fan favourite and exciting to watch. Whereas swimming.... well, it's all the same really. Isn't it?0 -
Do the IOC put limits on the number of competitors allowed in the Olympics by each sport? How close to that limit are they across all olympic cycling disciplines?
Do they put limits on the number of medals each sport can award?
I work out that swimming get three athletes per event per country as long as they qualify (with the exception of the OW races) and there are 34 medal winning opportunities.
18 medal opportunities in cycling. Much wider variety of cycling disciplines than you get in swimming. Do the UCI need to get some balls in dealing with the IOC? Without making up silly rules themselves.0 -
No.hammerite wrote:Do the IOC put limits on the number of competitors allowed in the Olympics by each sport? How close to that limit are they across all olympic cycling disciplines?
Yeshammerite wrote:Do they put limits on the number of medals each sport can award?You only need two tools: WD40 and Duck Tape.
If it doesn't move and should, use the WD40.
If it shouldn't move and does, use the tape.0 -
Daz555 wrote:
No.hammerite wrote:Do the IOC put limits on the number of competitors allowed in the Olympics by each sport? How close to that limit are they across all olympic cycling disciplines?
Really? If there are no restrictions on entry numbers then surely host cities may have to accommodate an infinite number of competitors. There must be some restriction in place to give hosts an idea on how big the athletes village needs to be and how much it will cost.0 -
hammerite wrote:Daz555 wrote:
No.hammerite wrote:Do the IOC put limits on the number of competitors allowed in the Olympics by each sport? How close to that limit are they across all olympic cycling disciplines?
Really? If there are no restrictions on entry numbers then surely host cities may have to accommodate an infinite number of competitors. There must be some restriction in place to give hosts an idea on how big the athletes village needs to be and how much it will cost.
Qualifying standards limit numbers and I think they also limit the numbers who can take part in any given event but the track cycling limit of one per country was a UCI idea.0 -
I’m not sure it’s true that track cycling is the only sport limited to one participant per country. For example, I think judo is limited to one participant per country per weight class (there are 7 weight classes for each sex).Pross wrote:Why does it only apply to track cycling?
I think canoe and maybe kayak also have a ‘one participant per country per event’ rule (I don’t know about rowing). Also, the long-distance swimming in the duckpond is one participant per country.
If there wasn’t such a rule for canoe, then Germany would probably often do in that sport what people think GB would do on the cycle track - take the silver and bronze as well.
I think the correct answer here is ‘sometimes’. For example, I think both judo and wrestling have limits on the total number of participants, although how this total is to be distributed between the weight classes and sexes isn’t defined.Daz555 wrote:
No.hammerite wrote:Do the IOC put limits on the number of competitors allowed in the Olympics by each sport?
I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that taekwondo and weight-lifting similarly have ‘one participant per country per weight class’ rules and also a limit to the total number of participants.0 -
knedlicky wrote:
I’m not sure it’s true that track cycling is the only sport limited to one participant per country. For example, I think judo is limited to one participant per country per weight class (there are 7 weight classes for each sex).Pross wrote:Why does it only apply to track cycling?
I think canoe and maybe kayak also have a ‘one participant per country per event’ rule (I don’t know about rowing). Also, the long-distance swimming in the duckpond is one participant per country.
If there wasn’t such a rule for canoe, then Germany would probably often do in that sport what people think GB would do on the cycle track - take the silver and bronze as well.
I think the correct answer here is ‘sometimes’. For example, I think both judo and wrestling have limits on the total number of participants, although how this total is to be distributed between the weight classes and sexes isn’t defined.Daz555 wrote:
No.hammerite wrote:Do the IOC put limits on the number of competitors allowed in the Olympics by each sport?
I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that taekwondo and weight-lifting similarly have ‘one participant per country per weight class’ rules and also a limit to the total number of participants.
We had two teams in one kayak event (got gold and silver) and there were a couple of Russians in the 10km swim but I think your point is valid. Boxing and sailing seem to be one per country per event too.0 -
Yep, it seems to be fight sports and those that require large bits of kit (rowing / sailing) that are the others with single competitors. Swimming is the one sport that seems to have more than its fair share of events and 3 per event.
EDIT Plus team sports.0
