Journal

The below press note came from www.usacycling.org

Matt King (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Eric DeGolier (Madison, Wis.) competed in the Men’s B1-3 Tandem Kilometer Time Trial finishing eighth. “As far as competition results go, this was a personal best but it was slower than we did in training,” says King. “We should have been faster than our training.”

Men B1-3 Tandem Kilometer Time Trial
1. Biddle, Anthony/Stewart, Kial AUS 1:05.141
2. Senmartin, Patrice/Janowski Frederic FRA 1:05.404
3. Sharpe,Ian/Hunter, Paul 1:05.52
8. King, Matt (Colorado Springs, Colo.)/DeGolier, Eric (Madison, Wis.) 1:07.557

ATHENS, GREECE (September 22, 2004)- The United States won gold and silver on the last day of track cycling competition. Karissa Whitsell (Springfield, Ore.) and Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won gold in the Women’s B1-3 Tandem 3km Pursuit, their third medal of the Games. The Men’s LC1-4 and CP3/4 Bicycle Sprint Team, Dan Nicholson (Richmond, Va.), Ron Williams (Birmingham, Ala.) and Paul Martin (Boulder, Colo.), won silver.

Upon hearing the Star Spangled Banner played in her honor, Whitsell confessed “This is the best feeling I ever had in my racing career.” Whitsell’s partner Compton agrees, “It is the first time I have heard the anthem at the Paralympics. It felt awesome.”

First three laps the Americans had a lead over the Australians. The Aussie’s pulled back into the lead for the next two laps and then the Americans put it into high gear to take the lead and never looked back. “We wanted it really bad,” says Compton. “With four to five laps to go I kept thinking ‘we can do this, we can do this.’ We kicked it up with four laps to go and turned on the afterburners.”

“All of the time in practice you think this really isn’t a race,” reflects Whitsell. “But this is really it, so use whatever you have left. It does not matter how you feel or what’s going on if you want it, you work for it. You just dig deeper.”

Not only did the women win the race they also set a world record with a time of 3:36.816. “The women had a big ride in the final,” says coach Craig Griffin (Colorado Springs, Colo.). “They ran a conservative race in the semifinals, I never asked they to go all out. In the final they started hard and never relaxed.”

Whitsell and Compton took the gold
Teamwork is what saw both teams to the medal podium. “None of us could have done it without the other two,” says Nicholson referring to the Men’s LC1-4 and CP3/4 Bicycle Team Sprint. Williams adds, “We are all good friends, we respect each other and that respect carries through when we train together. It was quality training with 100 percent given all the time.”

“There is no weak link on this team,” states Martin.

“Dan is our secret weapon,” confesses Williams. “I think he turned the fastest start time in every race. Without Dan we would have no silver medal.”

Nicholson, whose house was severely damaged by a flood while he was at a training camp preparing to leave for the Paralympics, said the team sprint is what kept him training. “I was ready to call it quits and go home and say I have better things to do. I thought about it for a couple of days and realized this is a great opportunity for all three of us to medal. It was more than just me, it was the team.”

This is Nicholson’s fourth career Paralympic medal and Martin’s second medal of the Games; however, it is Williams’ first Paralympic medal, ever. “It is kind of like putting something on layaway and finally picking it up,” says Williams. “It is very satisfying.”

During training camps leading up to the Paralympics, the sprint team spent three to four days a week working on the event. The gold medal winning Australian team posted the fastest times throughout the competition. To try to counter the Aussie’s speed the team switched the order of riders for the final. “We took a chance to try and gain a few extra seconds and switched Ron and Paul in the race order,” states Griffin.

Matt King (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Eric DeGolier (Madison, Wis.) competed in the Men’s B1-3 Tandem Kilometer Time Trial finishing eighth. “As far as competition results go, this was a personal best but it was slower than we did in training,” says King. “We should have been faster than our training.”

Results:
Women B1-3 Tandem 3km Pursuit
1. Whitsell, Karissa (Springfield, Ore.)/Compton, Katie (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 3:36.816
2. Hou, Lindy/Ryan, Toireasa AUS 3:39.318
3. Shaw, Janet/McCombie, Kelly AUS 3:42.304

Men LC1-4 and CP3/4 Bicycle Team Sprint
1. AUS
2. USA: Dan Nicholson (Richmond, Va.), Ron Williams (Birmingham, Ala.) and Paul Martin (Boulder, Colo.)
3. FRA

For more information, event schedules, team previews and features on your favorite athletes at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, log on to www.usocpressbox.org and www.athens2004.com.
For specific team questions, contact U.S. Cycling Team Press Officer Christy McAllister, at christy.mcallister@usoc.org or (011 30) 693-678-6239.