As for the GB sprinters. The UCI and the IOC have said there is no issue, none of the oponents have complained. So why is everyone getting frothy at the mounth about it. Non issue.

They are getting frothy at the mouth cos they ate too many prawn sarnies.

I think the rules regarding starts in these short sprint events are designed to cover for the fact that there is considerable potential for starts going tits up. For that reason there is a zone within which if there is a “mishap” a restart is allowed. Without this, this style of racing would end up being farcial, especially at lower levels. Its the same as the first bend rule in cycle speedway, regardless of reason you have to clear the first bend otherwise its a restart. I do recall being taught to lay down my bike if the start wasn’t clean, becuase sometimes the officials don’t spot it, so you’re just making sure they do.

Strangely, the honesty seemed refreshing to me.

For whats its worth, I also think the Badminton situation was farcical, but not for the commonly held view. Seemed to me that common sense dicated that the Ref should have acted at the time on the night as soon as it started to happen. A quick “pack it in or I’ll DQ you” would have sufficed, then followed up with a DQ if they persisted, then a ) the paying public wouldn’t have been let down, b) 8 Olympians would not have been royally screwed, c) a sensible precedent would have been set. So for my money a major refing fail, which then created a problem and forced a massive reaction.

kcr – Member

He wasn’t joking. If you watch the video, the actual fall looks pretty controlled, after the botched start that gets him in to trouble.

Just being devil’s advocate, but sometimes you lose control and the best thing to do is manage your crash, rather than keep trying to avoid it and risking a worse one- crashing somewhere worse, or harder, or into another rider, frinstance.

Will not comment on whether I think he actually did this or not 😉 But a controlled crash isn’t neccesarily an avoidable or deliberate crash.

It’s always amusing to see how johnny foreigner gets tied in knots when confronted with a good old idiom. That’ll learn ’em.

Si y supongo que tu castellano es perfecto 😉

The interview here – take a view for yourself

I think it’s a young lad who knows what he did was within the rules but didn’t think thru how it might sound to the public

am I the only person who saw footage of damaged carbon crank..? Did I imagine that..?
There was a shot from a certain camera angle..

Didn’t see any damage, but didn’t he restart on the same bike pretty much straight away ?

Team gb stated ‘mechanical failure’ but he bailed on the bike to seek a better start. We cheated and we don’t deserve the medal. We cheated plain as simple. Forget the interview, just watch the evidence and listen to the commentators suspicions

Tainted gold

Team gb stated ‘mechanical failure’ but he bailed on the bike to seek a better start. We cheated and we don’t deserve the medal. We cheated plain as simple. Forget the interview, just watch the evidence and listen to the commentators suspicions
Tainted gold

You are clearly more Knowledgeable than the professional officials who’s job it is to make those decisions.

Maybe you should get down to the velodrome and lend them your expertise for the next couple of days 😐

They can restart the race if there has been an accident. The commissar was quite happy to call a restart. After DQing GBR and China earlier in the evening he could hardly be considered a pushover.

They can restart the race if there has been an accident “mishap”.

FTFY, according to the rules, which specify only a “mishap”, nothing more.

After DQing relegating GBR and China earlier in the evening he could hardly be considered a pushover.

FTFY also (sorry 😉 )

Team gb stated ‘mechanical failure’ but he bailed on the bike to seek a better start. We cheated and we don’t deserve the medal. We cheated plain as simple. Forget the interview, just watch the evidence and listen to the commentators suspicions
Tainted gold

Biggest load of codswallop I’ve ever heard. Would you like to point out which rule was broken?

Anyone who knows track sprinting knows this is a non issue. People want to see a competition between the best in the world. They want to see peak sporting performance.
No one wants to see gold medals being won because of slippage or mechanicals that are common place in the sport.

Ok maybe he’s not media savvy and a little naive but come on he’s 19 yrs old. Should he really have to second guess people who dont understand the sport and might jump on him.

This just reminds me of the lazy reporting of GB road race members not being able to keep up with the peloton at the end of the race because they don’t understand they turned themselves inside out fr 5 hours because no other teams would help pull a breakaway back.

You are clearly more Knowledgeable than the professional officials who’s job it is to make those decisions.
Maybe you should get down to the velodrome and lend them your expertise for the next couple of days

Love the sarcasm. No damage to the bike despite ‘mechanical fault’

I’m no keyboard warrior, just a straight up guy who wants team gb to win but to win with the fair philosophy the games were built on. I know this isn’t popular with the winning type that has the ‘do anything to win’ attitude but we have the correct moral stance on drugs in sports. I’d rather loose than win under those circumstances

If this is a none story then the guardian need to stop reporting on it. The comments page is alive with spectators who feel the same as me (and against) Oh well, not expecting a decent debate. Just hoped we’d get one

I didn’t suggest you were a keyboard warrior.

I did however suggest you know less about the rules and intricacies of track cycling than the officials (who had no problem with the restart) and all the other teams (who also had no issue with it)

They can restart the race if there has been an accident “mishap”.

FTFY, according to the rules, which specify only a “mishap”, nothing more.

From the UCI’s advice to commissaires:

Recognized accidents:
• Fall
• Puncture
• Equipment failure: breakage of a vital part of the bike. These are RECOGNIZED accidents.

Unrecognized accidents:
• Tightening defect: foot out of pedal, misaligned wheel or handlebars, loose saddle etc. These are UNRECOGNIZED.

Note: competitors are permitted one accident in each round of an event and may start a second time. After this they are relegated according to the level of the event.

I’m no keyboard warrior, just a straight up guy who wants team gb to win but to win with the fair philosophy the games were built on.

Do you mean to do the best performance they possibly can within the rules. To not cheat, cross any lines or take any unfair advantage.

That’s what they did and I’d like you to find one track sprinter / knowledgable fan who thinks otherwise.

If the rules permitted a restart for Sanchez in the time trial would everyone have branded him a cheat because he took the opportunity??

If the rules permitted a restart for Sanchez in the time trial would everyone have branded him a cheat because he took the opportunity??

Well, he is Spanish. 😐

WunUndred 😀

So, when fussballers fall over and cry when some one else comes near them isn’t that cheating?

If they fall over and no-one has touched them, then yes, it is cheating, because there’s a rule against simulation. If they make the most of the contact, as happens week in week out with little complaint, then no, that’s not cheating because it’s not against the rules.

So, exactly the same then? Cheating fussballers, cheating.

So, exactly the same then?

No not all. He didn’t pretend to fall, he lost control through a wheel slip and managed to gain enough control to fall in a safe and controlled manner. Totally different to just crashing on purpose.

Track sprint rules are there to the benefit of compitition not to the detriment of it.
No sprinter wants to win a compition by a mishap that is common place within the sport and they have prob done themselves a thousand times.

This rule was created to stop racing being a farce and compitions being decided by mishaps instead of the sporting prowess the athletes train for and want to compete against.

Again a non issue fro track sprinters and those in the know.

Non cyclists prob won’t understand why GC contenders won’t attack when there close rival gets a puncture.

It’s all about winning for the right reasons because your the best athlete not because you gained an advantage because of a common mishap from your competitor. I think this says more about the Olympic spirit than anything else, would the rivals really want to win an olympic gold because of a tyre slip out the gates? I don’t think so and they’d be the first to agree to a restart.

**Devil’s Advocate** But isn’t winning a sporting event all about getting EVERY aspect of the sport right, not just the fitness part? **Devil’s Advocate**

I all honesty, I think his wheel slipped, lost control for a bit, felt that the best option was to crash relatively safely, rather than try and save it, risking a bigger crash, and used the get-out clause of the restart rule.

If it’s in the rules, it’s not illegal. His biggest mistake was admitting in on national TV. FWIW: I think the response to the “so you were pulling a fast-one?” question was down to not completely understanding the question and being carried away in the moment.