Cycling at CS Dominguez Hills : Gorski Reaches Match Sprint Semifinal

Cyclist Mark Gorski returned Friday to the scene of the crime, the Olympic Velodrome in Dominguez Hills, where he stole the show and won the gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Gorski is racing around the Olympic Velodrome again, this time in the two-day Sundance Grand Prix. The sprinter turned in the fastest time in the 200-meter time trials in the morning and then easily beat Bobby Livingston in the evening to qualify for today’s match sprint semifinals, beginning at 1 p.m. The finals will be later in the afternoon.

“This track definitely holds a special place in my heart,” Gorski said. “I would really, really like to show everyone why.”

Gorski, 28, will have to settle for just memories of the Olympics, not expectations. He won’t be going to Seoul next month, having lost to Ken Carpenter in the Olympic trials last week at Houston for the only match sprint berth on the U.S. team.

The Grand Prix was to feature a rematch between Gorski and Carpenter, but Carpenter pulled out of the competition at the last minute.

Carpenter and Andrzej Bek, the U.S. Olympic track cycling coach, decided it was better for him to rest and not risk injury. Speaking by phone from La Jolla, Carpenter also said his grandfather’s death Wednesday was a factor in his decision to pull out.

The rivalry between Gorski and Carpenter has been intense, both on and off the track.

“I wouldn’t say we’re friends,” Gorski said. “I would say we’re adversaries and competitors. I really don’t like his attitude.

“He’s just rather cocky and he hasn’t paid his dues. I think a lot of the cycling community resents that.”

Gorski also accused Carpenter of dodging a drug test at a national team training camp last April. Carpenter left the camp before a drug test was given.

Carpenter said he didn’t take the drug test in April because he had to attend to family problems. He says he passed a drug test in February, but rumors of him testing positive brought on the April test.

Carpenter said he has since passed drug tests.

According to Jerry Lace, executive director of the U.S. Cycling Federation, the results of Carpenter’s and Gorski’s drug tests at last week’s trials have not been released yet.

Said Carpenter: “I’m not going to get into a mudslinging contest with Mark. “ . . . I’ve extended every courtesy I possibly can. What am I supposed to do, lose to him? This is ridiculous. I think I’ve been a gentleman on and off the track, I think even more so than him, frankly.”

The 6-foot 4-inch, 225-pound Carpenter burst onto the cycling scene in 1986 and soon displaced Gorski as the country’s top sprinter. Carpenter, 23, has beaten Gorski three times this year, including his relatively easy win in the trials last week.

“I rode him really clean and beat him,” Carpenter said of the trials. “I wished him luck before the race and shook his hand afterward. What more can I do? I’m sorry it has to be that way, but that’s the way it is.”

Carpenter will resume Olympic preparations Sunday at the Olympic Velodrome.

Winners in final heats of the Grand Prix Friday were Gibby Hatton in the men’s 5-lap scratch race, Karen Bliss in the women’s 30-lap points race and Canadian Olympian Curt Harnett in the men’s 1-kilometer final.