May 29, 2004 – The 2004 UCI Track Cycling Championships came to a conclusion today as Becky Quinn (Quakertown, Pa.) narrowly missed scoring a second medal for the U.S. team with a fourth place effort in the women’s scratch race. Quinn avoided two late-race crashes to find herself in contention for a medal in the closing laps, but just missed closing the gap to the leaders in the final meters. Still, the fourth place finish for Quinn was the second-best performance for the U.S. team at the world championships behind a bronze medal from Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.) in the women’s keirin.

Best described as a short criterium on the track, the 15km women’s scratch race saw two separate and unrelated crashes two laps apart. Each crash claimed two riders, but Quinn’s position near the front of the bunch each time allowed her to remain in contention and be in position for the final sprint. With one lap to go, Quinn was sitting fourth wheel and remained in that position all the way to the finish as Yoanka Gonzalez Perez (CUB) claimed the gold medal ahead of Mandy Poitras (CAN) and Olga Slyusareva (RUS).

In the women’s 500m time trial, Tanya Lindenmuth (Trexlertown, Pa.) was aiming for a top-two finish in order to qualify a second Olympic start position for the U.S. in that event. Unfortunately, a talented field prevented that from happening.

With Lindenmuth riding eighth out of 17 competitors, she crossed the line with a time of 35.794 seconds, good enough for third place at the time, but too far off the pace to secure a second spot for the U.S. in the women’s 500m time trial this summer in Athens. By the time the remainder of the field had finished, Lindenmuth had dropped to 13th. The world title was taken by Anne Meares (AUS) with a time of 34.342. China’s Yonghua Jiang clocked a 34.675 to claim silver and Simona Krupeckaite (LTU) took bronze with a 34.788.

The U.S. team leaves the 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships with one medal. Reed’s bronze in the keirin was the highlight of the event for the Americans.

The UCI expects to announce the official allotment of start positions for the Olympics following the world championships. But under UCI guidelines, the U.S. expects to receive a start position for the men’s team sprint, the men’s points race, the women’s sprint, the women’s 500m time trial, the women’s individual pursuit and the women’s points race.

Complete U.S. Performances at the 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships

3rd – Women’s Keirin (Jennie Reed)

4th – Women’s Scratch Race (Becky Quinn)

5th – Women’s Sprint (Reed)

11th – Men’s Team Sprint (Giddeon Massie, Adam Duvendeck, Christian Stahl)

13th – Women’s 500m Time Trial (Tanya Lindenmuth)

13th – Women’s Points Race (Erin Mirabella)

14th – Women’s Individual Pursuit (Mirabella)

15th – Men’s Points Race (Colby Pearce)

18th – Men’s Kilometer Time Trial (Stahl)

19th – Men’s Scratch Race (Jame Carney)