U.S. Fails to Win a Medal

This wasn’t the way Marty Nothstein wanted to leave, not with a 10th-place finish in the madison race in the Track Cycling World Championships in the ADT Event Center at Carson. And certainly not with the U.S. track cycling program at a low.

“We’re at the bottom of the barrel right now,” the two-time Olympic medalist and three-time world champion said Sunday of his final world championships, in which U.S. athletes were shut out of the medals.

“It’s a bit of a bummer to have the world championships here on our home track and we haven’t won a medal. That’s not saying too much about our track program, which once was a powerhouse in the world,” said Nothstein, who will race some road and six-day events before he becomes chief operating officer of the velodrome where he got his start, at Trexlertown, Pa. “USA Cycling has to take a step back and reevaluate what’s going on.”

His teammate in the madison, Colby Pearce, was more emphatic.

“Clearly it’s a disaster,” said Pearce, who tried to initiate a late move to lap the field -- one way to win the race -- but was pulled back. “Overall, I think this week will be one of the biggest disappointments of my career.”

The top U.S. finish was Jennie Reed’s sixth place in the women’s keirin, the finale of the four-day competition.

Rebecca Quinn of Quakertown, Pa., was well-positioned for a charge on the final curve of the women’s scratch race but collided with Canada’s Mandy Poitras and fell. France’s Virginie Moinard was also part of the tangle, which left Quinn with two broken ribs and a broken collarbone.

Olga Slyusareva of Russia won the women’s scratch race, and Clara Sanchez of France won the women’s keirin. Rene Wolff of Germany won the men’s sprint. Britain won the madison and led the gold-medal list with four.

Overall, Australian athletes won the most medals, nine, one more than the Dutch.

Nothstein said directing the U.S. program would be his dream job, “but if something like that happens, it’s many years down the road.”

It may take that long for U.S. cycling to rise from its depths.

“It’s going to be a tough climb out, but we have some talent on this team and we have some real talented young sprinters in Trexlertown,” Nothstein said. “As bad as it looks now, I’m real confident for the future.”