London 2012 Olympics: Victoria Pendleton relegated amid controversy

THE Olympic Velodrome was supposed to rock to the sound of cheering but, instead, there was nothing to be heard but boos as Victoria Pendleton, one of the great box office draws in the British team, and her young partner in the team sprint, Jess Varnish, were dramatically relegated to eighth place – and medal-chasing oblivion – in the first round for a premature changeover between the riders.

For good measure, the Chinese, who had twice broken the world record during the session and who won the final against Germany, were themselves relegated to the silver medal position for a similar move.

For a mistake measured in inches, if not millimetres, the women’s team sprint was rendered a farce.

Whatever genius in the UCI introduced the changeover rule back at the world championships in March should be publicly flogged in the Olympic Park. This was no way to promote track cycling.

Pendleton accepted the demotion with good grace and apologised to the supporters, explaining that she and Varnish were probably too eager to impress and too “overwhelmed” in the moment. She was being kind to the rule-makers in her sport. At least Pendleton, who is due to retire from the track after these Games, has other chances to get the golds she came here for, but there will be no such reprieve for Varnish. The women’s sprint was her one and only shot at glory. The heart went out to her.

There are two points on the straight in the Velodrome – similar to an athletics relay where runners must hand over the baton in a defined space – where the riders must get their timing right, one pulling out and the other overtaking within an allocated spot. The British pair didn’t do it. When Pendleton came to overtake, the pair just got it wrong, by the tiniest margin.

It was a desperate shame, for they looked in formidable form and a likely final against the Chinese began to quicken the pulse of everybody inside the Velodrome. In their preliminary race, Pendleton and Varnish not only beat their great rivals, the Australians, but they did it by setting a new world record. Minutes later, the flying machines from China reset that world record and then broke it again soon after. The track seemed set for a terrific denouement, but it wasn’t to be. Instead it was the Germans who went on to meet the Chinese in the final.

When the crowd became aware of a potential problem, the Velodrome fell quiet. In the middle of the track, David Brailsford, British cycling’s performance director, and a number of his coaches remonstrated with officials, but to no avail. The changeover rule is a new one – and it’s controversial. Given that the sprinter is better off staying in a team-mate’s slipstream for as long as possible, it’s hard to see what advantage Pendleton was deemed to have won by pulling out early. It’s the law, though. The gospel according to the blazers. Team GB had no right of appeal and no place to go.

“We have never had an illegal change, so we weren’t really thinking about it,” said a slightly stunned Pendleton. “It’s just one of those things that happened. We were probably just a bit too eager and excited for a ride. Now and again rubbish things happen and this is one of those days. The only positives I can take is that I know I am in really good form because that was the fastest second lap (against Ukraine) I have done. I just need to get my head down and concentrate on the races to come.

“We’re both partly to blame. We’re a bit too eager. We were a bit overwhelmed by the moment. It’s just one of those things. We felt we were getting into that gold medal gear. All I can do now is focus on tomorrow. I’m desperately disappointed for Jess because she has done an incredible job in getting this far. Her team sprint was the best of her life so far. I’ve no doubt she will be back in Rio and absolutely smashing it. I’m sorry for disappointing all the people that have come to support us and perhaps not offering the ride that we would have done. I’m really sorry.”

Pendleton’s take on things was echoed by Jamie Staff, gold medal winner in Beijing and working as a pundit at these Games. “You get carried away in the moment,” said Staff. “You have to have perspective. You’re travelling 50mph and coming out a corner. It’s very hard to see the markers on the floor. Sometimes it can be hard to control, but having said that this is the Olympic Games and you expect perfection. I feel for Jess at the moment. This was her only event, and it’s another four years which is a long time to wait.”

Mark Cavendish, who knows a thing or two about disappointment at the Games himself, encapsulated the feelings of the entire Velodrome. “It’s the Olympic Games,” he said. “It’s the biggest thing and to spend four years getting ready for it only to lose in a fraction of a second is gut wrenching.”