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Fire and ice Speedskater Witty has a ticket to ride in the cycling competition
Posted: Saturday July 18, 1998 11:46 AM
NEW YORK (CNN/SI) -- After skating her way to a silver and a bronze medal at the Nagano Winter Olympics, Chris Witty is stepping off the ice and onto her bicycle for this summer's Goodwill Games. Witty, a rising cycling star, will test her skills against some of the world's best competitors and teams as they ride on the tight and high-banked turns of the Games' innovative cycling track, the Vandedrome. The cycling competition takes place July 25 - 26 at Wagner College Stadium in Staten Island. "If I'm looking to enhance my abilities and future in cycling, I have to challenge myself with events like the Goodwill Games" said Witty. "With cyclists of this caliber, competing on this track, the field stands to produce some of the fastest times around." Witty, a world-record holder in speedskating's 1,000 meters, has long pursued both speedskating and cycling. Her performances at this past Winter Olympics propelled her into skating stardom, and the shadow of skating sensation Bonnie Blair. In addition to her skating fame, Witty has quickly become a familiar name in the cycling world, and is she gaining a reputation as a top competitor. She earned an alternate spot on the 1996 U.S. Olympic cycling team and recently placed fifth at the World Cup in Berlin. Witty's coach, world-class cyclist and Goodwill Games gold medalist Connie Paraskevin-Young, looks to the Games competition as a great test for Witty. "I fully expect fast times and a great performance from her at the Goodwill Games," said Paraskevin-Young. "The Vandedrome is a very fast track and will provide a quick and competitive race. This will help push Chris to her ultimate potential." Witty's performances have already stirred speculation about becoming the greatest speedskating/cycling athlete. She could possibly become the first ever to win gold medals in both a Winter and Summer Olympics. Witty, who considers the idea a definite possibility, is setting her sights on cycling this summer and giving it her full attention. The Goodwill Games cycling competition will match Witty and her U.S. team against the Russia, Germany, Belgium, the World All-Stars, and the Pan-Am All-Stars. The Games' track cycling competition has a unique, two-day format, with each team comprised of five men and three women. All teams compete in 11 finals each day for a total purse of $75,000. The competition will be held in an innovative "game" format-the first of its kind-where all points are totaled for the winner of the game. Other cycling events for men include: kierin final, elimination, chariot race, 50-lap scratch, sprints and the magic mile. Women's events are as follows: the chariot race, 30-lap scratch, sprints and elimination. The 105-acre Wagner College campus will be the site of the Vandedrome, the world's first portable, expandable, world-class velodrome. The 170-meter track, with a 53-degree banking, is one of the world's steepest tracks and allowing cyclists to reach speeds up to 40 miles per hour on the wooden surface.
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Witty earned an alternate spot on the 1996 U.S. Olympic cycling team 