Twigg Blames Coaches After Olympic Dispute

Cyclist Rebecca Twigg, who quit the Olympics five days before what was supposed to be her crowning race, blames her U.S. Cycling coaches for the fiasco in Atlanta.

“I think some of their egos got in the way of letting an athlete tell them what’s best,” Twigg told the Seattle Times in her first public statement since leaving Atlanta on July 29.

“They wanted to be in charge. Their say-so was going to be final, whether it was for the best or not.”

Twigg gave up her final Olympic race, the individual time trial, after performing poorly in the quarterfinals of the 3,000-meter individual pursuit, an event in which she was reigning world champion.

She left in a feud with national coaching director Chris Carmichael, who had criticized Twigg’s training methods.

Twigg says pressure from sponsors made the coaching staff overreact to her poor performance.

“I don’t think the right way to handle it is to lie about other people and ruin their image,” she said from her home in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Twigg, 33, won a bronze medal in the individual pursuit in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and a silver in the road race at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. She was a heavy favorite in the individual pursuit this year after winning the 1995 world championship in record time.

But Twigg complained the U.S.-designated bicycle for the event, the SuperBike, was difficult to handle. She also complained that her longtime personal coach, Eddie Borysewicz, was not allowed onto the infield at the Olympics.

Carmichael defended his actions.

“I don’t feel at all there was any mishandling [of her]. Nor do I have any regrets how the coaching staff worked with Rebecca,” he said.