Photo: Paul Gilham / Getty Images / NBCOlympics.com
The Olympics drew to a close this weekend but not before the Olympic mountain bikers had a chance to tear up the course at Laoshan Olympic Mountain Bike Course. According to the NBC television commentary the course had 800 feet of climbing PER LAP meaning the men’s race climbed 6,400 feet over 8 laps.
Not only was the course aerobically challenging, there were also plenty of technical sections keeping the riders out of the saddle a bit more than they might have liked. During the broadcast we learned that the course was deemed “too easy” during pre-Olympic test rides last fall so the entire course was re-worked to add more challenges (including rocks cemented into the trail itself). This time around the riders said they thought the changes may have swung the course into the “too hard” direction. Man, are pro riders like Goldilocks or what? 😉
The men’s race was dominated by winner Julien Absalon of France who also took the gold in Athens in 2004. The French took silver as well while a Swiss rider snagged bronze. The women’s race was owned by the Europeans where the top 3 finishers were from Germany, Poland, and Russia. Only 1 American has EVER won an Olympic medal in mountain biking – Susan DeMattei received Bronze in 1996. Here are the official medal results:
Men’s Olympic mountain biking results
- Julien Absalon (FRANCE)
- Jean-Christophe Peraud (FRANCE)
- Nino Schurter (SWITZERLAND)
Women’s Olympic mountain biking results
- Sabine Spitz (GERMANY)
- Maja Wloszczowska (POLAND)
- Irina Kalentyeva (RUSSIA)
Photo: Paul Gilham / Getty Images / NBCOlympics.com
Aside from a couple exciting crashes during the races, there really wasn’t that much drama in the mountain biking events. Since there aren’t world records to beat or even large crowds to impress it’s a bit of an uphill battle for viewer excitement (no pun intended). It didn’t help that the event was broadcast at 1am Eastern time or the fact that the television coverage only showed the first and last laps of the race.
One final observation: the winner of the men’s race (and most other racers as far as I could tell) seemed to be riding hard tail bikes and not the full suspension rigs most amateur riders prefer. Sure hardtails are lighter and a bit faster in some circumstances but the Olympic course had some pretty gnarly sections that would have been much nicer on a plush ride. I’m also pretty sure there weren’t any 29ers, perhaps due to rules barring them as “non-standard” equipment? Anyone know where to find a copy of the official Olympic MTB regulations?
