BARCELONA '92 OLYMPICS / DAY 7 : DAILY REPORT : CYCLING : Twigg Celebrates Comeback With Bronze in 3,000 Pursuit

L.A. Times Archives

Aug. 1, 1992 12 AM PT

<i> Staff and Wire Reports</i>

Rebecca Twigg’s improbable comeback continued Friday at the Municipal Velodrome with a bronze medal in the women’s 3,000-meter pursuit.

Twigg of San Diego won the silver medal in the first women’s road race in 1984, failed to make the U.S. team in 1988 and retired shortly thereafter. She started training at the end of last year when the urge to return overcame her.

“On nice summer days I’d think about cycling again,” Twigg said earlier this year. “But the feeling always went away the next morning.”

Twigg, 29, left her job as a computer programmer and the four-time world pursuit champion went to work on the road. Coached by her boyfriend, J-Me Carney, also an Olympic cyclist, Twigg upset 1991 world silver medalist Janie Eickhoff of Los Alamitos at the U.S. trials.

“(J-Me) was pretty much a shoo-in for the Olympics because he was riding really, really well,” Twigg said. “And I thought if I wanted to keep seeing him, I’d have to make the team as well.”

Twigg upset world-record holder Jeannie Longo of France in the quarterfinals to advance to Friday’s semifinals, where she lost to rising star Kathyrn Watt of Australia. Watt was the surprise winner of the women’s road race Sunday.

Twigg won the bronze with a faster clocking than the other semifinalist loser, Hanne Mamlberg of Denmark, beaten by eventual gold-medal winner Petra Rossner of Germany.

“I’ve always considered pursuit my best event,” Twigg said of the race that was being held for the first time in the Olympics. “I waited years and years for it to be in the Olympics. And I’m really happy I got a medal in my favorite event before I was 40 years old.”

Estonia’s Erika Salumae had to wait four years to duplicate her victory in the women’s match sprint, gaining the Baltic republic’s first Olympic medal since the country left the Soviet Union. Salumae, who won the gold for the Soviets in 1988, defeated Annett Neumann of Germany, 2-1, in the three-race series.

In the men’s match sprint, Jens Fiedler won the gold medal, beating Gary Neiwand of Australia. Canada’s Curtis Harnett, who trains in Newport Beach during the winter, won the bronze by beating Roberto Chiappa of Italy. Ken Carpenter of La Mesa was fifth.

TEAM HANDBALL

Sweden, CIS Win to Lead Pools and Remain Undefeated at 3-0

Undefeated Sweden (3-0) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (3-0) held leads in their respective pools with victories at the Palau Sant Jordi. Sweden’s men defeated Brazil, 22-15, in Pool A, and the CIS defeated Egypt, 22-18, in Pool B.

Iceland and South Korea stayed on pace behind Sweden, a medal favorite, with victories. Iceland, second to Sweden with a 2-0-1 record, defeated Hungary, 22-16. South Korea (2-1-0) beat Czechoslovakia, 20-19.

France and Spain remained tied for second at 2-1-0 in Pool B with victories. France defeated Germany, 23-20, and Spain, considered a medal favorite, beat Romania, 20-19.

TABLE TENNIS

O’Neill Loses Close Match; U.S. Women Fail to Advance

Olympic table tennis champion Nam Yoo of South Korea defeated Sean O’Neill of McLean, Va., in the first round of men’s singles, 21-10, 19-21, 21-19.

Zoran Primorac of Croatia defeated Jim Butler of Iowa City, Iowa, 21-17, 21-14. Butler and O’Neill also lost in doubles to Roberto Casares and Jose Pales of Spain, 22-10, 16-21, 21-17.

All three U.S. women won matches but failed to advance to the quarterfinals because they did not win their pool. Insook Bhushan of Aurora, Colo., defeated Nadia Rasha Al Hindi of Jordan, 21-6, 21-5; Lily Hugh of Metuchen, N.J., stopped Helen Amankwaa of Ghana, 21-14, 21-10, and Diana Gee of San Carlos, Calif., defeated Sofija Ljubiza Tepes of Chile, 21-13, 21-6.

CANOE / KAYAK

New Slalom Course Is Easy, American Competitors Say

U.S. canoeists and kayakers made promising practice runs on a whitewater slalom course at Seu d’Urgell that Coach Bill Endicott characterized as easy. The competition gates on the artificial canal were placed Thursday.

“I thought they would put more hard moves in there,” Endicott said.

Rich Weiss of Steamboat Springs, Colo., had the best time in the 44-person men’s single kayak field. Weiss said the most difficult combination is near the beginning, but the course was not what he expected.

“We have been practicing much tighter and with different gate placements,” he said.

MEDALISTS

CYCLING

(Men’s sprint)

Gold: Jens Fiedler (Germany)

Silver: Gary Neiwand (Australia)

Bronze: Curtis Harnett (Canada)

(Women’s sprint)

Gold: Erika Salumae (Estonia)

Silver: Annett Neumann (Germany)

Bronze: Ingrid Haringa (Netherlands)

(Men’s 4,000-meter team pursuit)