For Immediate Release
Cycling - Day 7 - March 18, 1995
Final Events: Sprint (W&M), Team Pursuit (M), Points Race (W&M)
Venue: Velodrome
Press Officer: Cheryl Kvasnicka, 89-9165
USA's Eickhoff, Nothstein and Team Pursuiters Claim Gold to
Conclude Track Cycling
MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina -- Team USA took medals in four of
the five events contested on the last day of track cycling
competition Saturday at the Sports Park Velodrome.
Janie Eickhoff (Wilmington, Del.) won the women's points
race to record her second consecutive gold medal of the
Games while reigining world champion Marty Nothstein
(Trexlertown, Pa.) claimed the first Pan Am medal of his
career with a gold in the men's sprint.
Eickhoff, who won the women's 3,000-meter pursuit on Friday,
was happy to have completed her quest for two gold medals
but even more content with what it meant for her team.
"Beyond the personal satisfaction of a gold medal in the
points race, my main objective was to win the event to
secure a 1996 Olympic spot for the U.S.," Eickhoff said.
"Only the winning country receives a quota spot from the Pan
Am Games and I felt it was critical to make the most of the
opportunity for our team."
In team pursuit, Team USA was able to regroup after crashing
in qualifying Friday, to win the gold medal convincingly in
a finish time of 4:19.025. The five athletes that comprised
the four-man competition group through four rides included
Colorado Springs, Colo., residents Carl Sundquist, Zach
Conrad, and Mariano Friedick, and Adam Laurent (Arroyo
Grande, Calif.), and Christian Vande Velde (Lemont, Ill.).
With the exception of the qualifying crash, the only down
side to the U.S. team's gallant comeback effort was the fact
that they were on pace to break the Pan Am record in the
final. When Team USA caught Cuba in the 4,000-meter, 16-lap
event, the pursuit was over and the opportunity to improve
on the record of 4:22.010 set in 1983 by the U.S. was
denied.
"While setting a Pan Am record was a goal of ours, claiming
the gold medal was more important than the record," Laurent
said. "We will always have the gold medal, but once someone
else rides a better time, your record is gone."
Two-time cycling Olympian and 1987 Pan Am gold medalist
Connie Paraskevin-Young (Detroit, Mich.) was defeated by
Tanya Dubincoff (CAN) in her effort to reclaim the women's
sprint title. However, her silver medal helped move Team
USA's total to 11 (eight golds, three silvers) and put them
in the hunt to tie or break the cycling Pan Am record of 12
medals set in 1987 in Indianapolis.
Final Results
Women's Sprint
1. Tanya Dubnicoff (CAN). 2. Connie Paraskevin-Young
(USA/Detroit, Mich.). 3. Nancy Contreras (MEX).
Men's Sprint
1. Marty Nothstein, (USA/Trexlertown, Pa.). 2. Christian
Arrue (CHI). 3. Gil Cordoves (CUB).
4,000-meter Team Pursuit
1. USA, Carl Sundquist (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Zach
Conrad (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Mariano Friedick (Colorado
Springs, Colo.), Adam Laurent (Arroyo Grande, Calif.).
Christian Vande Velde (Lemont, Ill.) replaced Conrad in the
semifinal. 2. CUB, Ivan Dominguez, Reinaldo Rodriguez,
Eugenio Castro, Hector Ajete. 3. BRA, Hernandez Quadri,
Mauro Ribeiro, Marcio May, Jamil Suaiden.
Women's Points Race
1. Janie Eickhoff (USA/Wilmington, Del.), 45 pts. 2. Belem
Guerrero (MEX), 27 pts. 3. Dania Perez (CUB), 22 pts.
Men's Points Race
1. Brian Walton (CAN), 26 pts. 2. Milton Wynants (URU), 22
pts., 2 laps. 3. Juan Merheb (PUR), 21 pts., 2 laps. 8.
Christian Vande Velde (USA/Lemont, Ill.), 29 pts., 4 laps.
-TEAM USA-
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