ContentsContents 4 Going for Gold 6 Road Racing 8 Time Trial and Triathlon 10 On Track 12 Individual Sprint 14 Team Sprints and the Keirin 16 Pursuits and Points Races 18 The Omnium 20 Mountain Biking 24 BMX Racing 28 Gold Medal Greats 30 Glossary 31 Books and Web Sites 32 Index
Going for Gold The Olympics is international sports competition at its best Every four years in summer thousands of athletes known as Olympians gather in one city There they compete against the best athletes in their sport hoping to come home with an Olympic gold silver or bronze medal Modern Games The ancient Greek games were held in Olympia from 776 BC for more than a thousand years In the 1890s the games were revived when the first modern Olympic games were held in the Greek city of Athens in 1896 Today the host city and nation welcome tens of thousands of spectators while millions more watch on television Different Disciplines Male cyclists have taken part in the modern Olympics since 1896 Cycling for women was introduced in 1984 The different types of cycling competitions at the games range from track racing events held indoors to long distance road racing events Some competitions are for 4 Germany’s Sabine Spitz is delighted to win her first Olympic gold medal She won a bronze in the mountain bike competition in 2004 and gold at the 2008 games individual riders while others are team events In more recent years both mountain biking see pages 20 23 and BMX racing see pages 24 27 have been part of the Olympics
Cycling
An introduction to cycling events of the summer Olympics, including road racing, time trials, BMX racing, and more.
About This Book
By: Clive Gifford
Illustrated by:
Published by: Amicus provided by the Creative Company