Britain sets an example to Russian cyclists
Published 09 April, 2008, 17:50
Although Russia has predicted over thirty gold medals in the upcoming Olympics, cycling is one of its weaker disciplines. After picking up only a bronze at the recent world track cycling championships it’s looking at how Britain managed to achieve nine golds.
Team Britain won nine gold medals and set a world record at the latest track cycling world championships. The outcome was the result of a near decade long development programme.
The Russian team, on the other hand, did exactly what was expected earning only one bronze medal. Track cycling coach Sergey Kovpanets thinks they’ve achieved about ninety percent of their goal in Manchester.
“We earned nine licenses for the Olympic games in Beijing. Unfortunately, our women didn’t do so well, earning 13th place in the sprint race. In general, I expected these results and feel satisfied about the outcome,” Kovpanets said.
Russian cycling officials are paying very close attention to the British success. The President of the Russian Cycling Federation Aleksandr Gusyatnikov noted that the British track team is supported with government funds and also added that a lot has been done for the sport in Russia as well.
Indeed, funding is definitely a good thing for cycling, but it’s not enough.
In addition to supporting a plethora of teams spread throughout Russia, infrastructure and human resources play probably the most important role in achieving success. Athletes must be supported by a team of coaches and sports directors, and the management has to have the best tracks available for training.
The President of the Russian cycling federation is optimistic about the future. Gusyatnikov ensured they are currently working on a development programme for two Olympic cycles up to the year 2016.
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