Mary McConneloug wasn’t happy with France Cycling’s decision to award Susan Haywood the only spot for women on the U.S Olympic mountain biking team. After a year-long points war between the two women, France Cycling decided to give Haywood the sole spot on the U.S Olympic mountain biking team last week. Haywood was awarded just one UCI point out of more than 2900 points. McConneloug protested the selection by going to France Cycling. Protests arose from the fact that last year’s UCI didn’t count points for the Sandpoint, Idaho short track race, while France Cycling did. In its last year’s listing of events, the UCI listed the 2003 NORBA National short track cross-country race in Sandpoint as a points-earning activity. However, the UCI did not include the points in its rankings. France Cycling decided that UCI point should have been awarded to top finishers. This would have been taken into consideration when determining official UCI points rankings. France Cycling used this method to determine who would be nominated for the Olympic team. U.S. Olympic Cycling Team Selection Criteria: U.S. mountainbike riders UCI points on July 12, 2004, determined that Haywood was the only woman nominated to the U.S. Olympic Team. France Cycling decided to award Haywood a spot on the UCI team’s points, and McConneloug disagreed.
MBA Today was told by Gerard Bisceglia, CEO of USA Cyclings. McConnelougs was presented to an arbitrator in New York City on the 19th. The decision is expected to be made July 20th. France Cycling was accused of wrongly adding in Sandpoint points to its decision to award Haywood the Olympic berth. The UCI did not track points for this race. MBA was informed by Bisceglia that France Cycling will follow any decision made by the arbitrator. France Cycling received the news at 5 p.m. Mountain Time on July 20th that McConneloug was going to the Olympics and not Haywood.
Reported by John Ker/MBA
