Goride
07-21-2004, 10:45 AM
From USA Cycling Press Release:
McCONNELOUG NOMINATED TO U.S. OLYMPIC*MOUNTAIN BIKE*TEAM
Original Nomination of Haywood Reversed by AAA
*
Colorado Springs, Colo. (July 20, 2004)--USA Cycling received today the decision from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) with regards to the selection of the*single women’s mountain bike start position for the Olympic Games.*The arbitrator’s decision was to nominate Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.) to the U.S. Olympic mountain bike team.
*
McConneloug challenged the original nomination of Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.) and her appeal primarily focused on USA Cycling’s decision to include 15 UCI points from last July’s NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series event in Sandpoint, Idaho in her international ranking.*Ultimately, those 15 points proved to be a deciding factor in which athlete received a nomination.*With the inclusion of those points, Haywood’s adjusted total was 1489 to McConneloug’s 1488.
*
“In the spirit of fairness, we decided to include these 15 points since they were omitted from the official international rankings at no fault of the athletes,” explained Gerard Bisceglia, USA Cycling chief executive officer.*“In the end, the exclusion of these points was going to affect the Olympic aspirations of two deserving athletes.*We fully support the arbitrator’s decision to nominate Mary and feel that she will be a competitive force and fine delegate of the U.S. Olympic team.*We know Sue is very disappointed and it’s a bittersweet moment for Mary but*now she canfocus*herattention towards Athens and preparing for the Olympic Games.”
McCONNELOUG NOMINATED TO U.S. OLYMPIC*MOUNTAIN BIKE*TEAM
Original Nomination of Haywood Reversed by AAA
*
Colorado Springs, Colo. (July 20, 2004)--USA Cycling received today the decision from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) with regards to the selection of the*single women’s mountain bike start position for the Olympic Games.*The arbitrator’s decision was to nominate Mary McConneloug (Fairfax, Calif.) to the U.S. Olympic mountain bike team.
*
McConneloug challenged the original nomination of Sue Haywood (Davis, W. Va.) and her appeal primarily focused on USA Cycling’s decision to include 15 UCI points from last July’s NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series event in Sandpoint, Idaho in her international ranking.*Ultimately, those 15 points proved to be a deciding factor in which athlete received a nomination.*With the inclusion of those points, Haywood’s adjusted total was 1489 to McConneloug’s 1488.
*
“In the spirit of fairness, we decided to include these 15 points since they were omitted from the official international rankings at no fault of the athletes,” explained Gerard Bisceglia, USA Cycling chief executive officer.*“In the end, the exclusion of these points was going to affect the Olympic aspirations of two deserving athletes.*We fully support the arbitrator’s decision to nominate Mary and feel that she will be a competitive force and fine delegate of the U.S. Olympic team.*We know Sue is very disappointed and it’s a bittersweet moment for Mary but*now she canfocus*herattention towards Athens and preparing for the Olympic Games.”