O'Loughlin on Track

smithslist

From IT today

O'Loughlin puts himself in frame for Olympic place

SHANE STOKES in Manchester

CYCLING: DAVID O'LOUGHLIN looks likely to have secured an Olympic slot following an excellent performance on yesterday's opening day of the world track championships in Manchester. The 29-year-old Mayo rider went 4.4 seconds quicker than his national record and beat several established names to finish sixth in the 4,000 metres individual pursuit, a considerable improvement over his 17th place 12 months ago.

O'Loughlin was paired off against world number one Phillip Thuaux (Australia) in the eighth heat and pulled clear of his rival early on, finally clocking a time of 4 minutes 20.91 seconds.

This easily eclipsed the team's own expectations and showed the rapid rate of progress he has shown since clocking four minutes 29.9 in September 2006.

O'Loughlin was lying fourth overall until the final two riders went in the last heat, Jenning Huizenga (Netherlands) and Bradley Wiggins (Britain). Both went quicker with Huizenga pipping the reigning world champion to set the quickest time.

However Wiggins took the gold medal later in the evening, while Alexei Markov (Russian Federation) beat Hayden Roulston (New Zealand) for bronze.

Former world champion and Olympic silver medallist Bradley McGee (Australia) finished just ahead of O'Loughlin in fifth, covering the distance just 0.48 seconds quicker.

As expected, O'Loughlin was satisfied with the result.

"I am delighted to do a personal best and to beat it by a considerable way," he told The Irish Times. "There was only one guy ahead of me today who had been higher than me in the world rankings, so that will help things for the Olympic place.

"The criteria is very confusing and there is some maths to work out, but this result is good.

"I knew I was in good form beforehand but it is hard to know exactly how it will go on the day. I felt strong today and went fast early on, so I knew I was on a good ride.

"Going through the two-kilometre point I was very comfortable and was banging out the laps consistently, and when I saw the other rider ahead of me at the end that was also a boost. The last kilometre always hurts but I had someone to chase."

His rate of improvement is also something which encourages greatly. "I've gone over four seconds quicker than the time I set in the Beijing World Cup but I knew that if I could do that in December, then there was a lot more in me when I built form."

Team manager Frank Campbell was also buoyant. "As we said last year, it is a learning curve. We changed things, we had good coaching help thanks to the assistance of the Sports Council, and we learned by our mistakes.

"David has now proved that he has got it; we always knew deep down he had the engine to do it, but it was a case of getting that engine tuned and getting it to work on the day."

The final line-up for the pursuit race at the Olympic Games will not be confirmed for some time, but a calculation of O'Loughlin's new world rankings plus the likely qualification slots by other countries showed that an Olympic place is now looking very possible. All the more reason to celebrate what was a very encouraging day for Irish cycling.


I think a big congrats for loughlin, hope he gets his olympic place, and does well in bejing.

Another good day for irish cycling.

fish-head

I must watch that today, I have yesterday's track racing recorded. I only got to see the womens 500TT.

bunnygreen

yes a great result for him,anyone see the french team last night hammer the brits,the time splits were astounding,also one of the best scratch races ive seen in a while

fish-head

The scratch was great! That Belarus lad has some legs on him!

bunnygreen

He was unbelievable nearly lapped them at the start and then waited and pounced,great tactics,i was hoping the asian guy would hang on though,he was really going for it,waiting for vicky pendleton to make an appearance,that should be nice,did any one see her in the observer sports supplement?

studiorat

bunnygreen wrote: »

i was hoping the asian guy would hang on though,he was really going for it,?

+1

fish-head

Chris Hoy yesterday was unbelievable. What a beast!

Raam

The track racing is very exciting when you have a sprint for the line!
Is O'Loughlin racing in any more of the events?

niceonetom

fish-head wrote: »

Chris Hoy yesterday was unbelievable. What a beast!

totally. theo bos made him look like an amateur in the first round and then hoy realised that tactics would get him nowhere.

brute force and ignorance ftw.

he's a beast on a bike but the fella can hardly walk. his thighs have to go around each other, not side by side. anybody else remember seeing him on 'allstars' (that bbc thing where athletes from different sports compete)? he came last in the 100m (running). some sprinter :rolleyes:.

bunnygreen

Hoy got steamed on the first race,learnt his lesson and hammered back in the last two,what power,and what what a great way to spend the entire evening,anyone share my liking for vicky pendleton?

niceonetom

bunnygreen wrote: »

Hoy got steamed on the first race,learnt his lesson and hammered back in the last two,what power,and what what a great way to spend the entire evening,anyone share my liking for vicky pendleton?

there is something about a girl with a pretty face and massive, muscular thighs.

fish-head

And an full carbon track bike that she can get to speeds in excess of 60km/h...

bunnygreen

oh boys....huge thighs and full carbon frame,worth a peddle alright

triv88

.......

bunnygreen

thats what im talkin bout

smithslist

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bunnygreen

chris hoy the real mchoy,did you see the power,unbelievable,

fish-head

Hoy just ate that french kid. Pure raw power. The size of him!

The french kid has got a hell of a career ahead of him though, I'd say.