Tara Whitten

Last updated

Tara Whitten
Tara Whitten.jpg
Personal information
Full nameTara Alice Whitten
Born (1980-07-13) 13 July 1980 (age 43)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Team information
Current teamRetired
Disciplines
  • Track
  • Road
RoleRider
Rider typeEndurance
Professional team
2011–2012 Team TIBCO–To The Top

Tara Alice Whitten (born 13 July 1980) is a Canadian former racing cyclist. [1]

Contents

Career

A former cross-country skier from Edmonton, Alberta, Whitten began track racing seriously in 2008 having dabbled in it since 2005. [2] The same year she won the points race and individual pursuit at the Canadian National Track Championships, and also took the bronze medal in the scratch race and 500 meter time trial events.

Whitten began the 2008–2009 track cycling season strongly, winning two silver medals at first round of the Track World Cup in Manchester, United Kingdom, in October. She went on to take two bronze medals in the third round in Cali, Colombia, and a further two silver medals in the fifth and final round in Copenhagen, Denmark, in February 2009.

In March 2009, Whitten won the silver medal in the Omnium at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszków, the first time the event was included in the championships. [2]

In December 2009, Whitten rode on the team that won the gold medal in the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics Women's Team Pursuit in Cali, Colombia, along with fellow Canadian National Team members Laura Brown and Stephanie Roorda, concurrently setting a new Canadian National Record in this event as well with a time of 3:27.289. Of note, the Women's Team Pursuit has been added as an Olympic event for 2012. She also won two silver medals, in the Individual Pursuit (time of 3:34.547) and Points Race.

In March 2010, Whitten won the gold medal in the Omnium and Points race at the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Ballerup.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was part of the Canadian team that won the bronze medal in the women's team pursuit. [3] She finished fourth in the omnium. [4] [5]

In March 2016 Whitten was injured in Rio de Janeiro during a visit to inspect the road course for the 2016 Summer Olympics, running her bike into the back of a bus and being knocked unconscious and breaking a bone in the base of her skull. The interruption to her training delayed her qualifying for the Olympics, [5] but she was officially named to Canada's 2016 Olympic team. [6]

Personal life

Whitten was awarded a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Alberta on 10 June 2016, having first earned a science degree in 2006 and been accepted into an electrophysiology lab as a master's student in 2007, while taking periodic breaks from her studies to focus on cycling full-time. She began a post-doctoral fellowship in concussion research at the University of Calgary in fall 2016. [5]

Major results

Track

Road

2009
1st MaillotCan.PNG Time trial, National Road Championships
8th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
2010
Commonwealth Games
1st Gold medal blank.svg Time trial
7th Road race
National Road Championships
2nd Road race
3rd Time trial
6th Chrono Gatineau
7th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
9th Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau
2011
2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
4th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
6th Chrono Champenois
2012
4th Chrono Gatineau
2015
2nd Silver medal america.svg Time trial, Pan American Road Championships
8th Overall Joe Martin Stage Race
8th Chrono Gatineau
2016
1st MaillotCan.PNG Time trial, National Road Championships
1st Overall Cascade Cycling Classic
1st Mountains classification
1st Stages 2 (ITT) & 5
2nd Chrono Gatineau
7th Time trial, Summer Olympics

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Clancy</span> English racing cyclist (born 1985)

Edward Franklin Clancy is a British former professional track and road bicycle racer, who competed between 2004 and 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yvonne Hijgenaar</span> Dutch cyclist

Yvonne Hijgenaar is a Dutch racing cyclist and former national speed skater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarmila Machačová</span> Czech cyclist

Jarmila Machačová is a Czech professional racing cyclist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yumari González</span> Cuban cyclist

Yumari González Valdivieso is a Cuban professional road and track cyclist. She competed at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics in the Women's road race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leire Olaberria</span> Spanish cyclist

Leire Olaberria Dorronsoro ; born 17 February 1977) is a Spanish racing cyclist from the Basque Country. She won the Bronze medal in the Women's points race at the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing behind Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Yoanka González (Cuba).

Hayden Godfrey is a cycling competitor for New Zealand. He competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne where along with Tim Gudsell, Peter Latham and Marc Ryan he won a bronze medal in the Team pursuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tatsiana Sharakova</span> Belarusian racing cyclist

Tatsiana Valerevna Sharakova is a Belarusian racing cyclist, who rides for Belarusian amateur team Minsk Cycling Club. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics on the track in the women's team pursuit for the national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aušrinė Trebaitė</span> Lithuanian cyclist

Aušrinė Trebaitė is a Lithuanian former racing cyclist.

Josephine Tomic is a former Australian track cyclist. She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Team Pursuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katarzyna Pawłowska</span> Polish cyclist

Katarzyna Pawłowska is a Polish road racing and track cyclist, who most recently rode for Belgian amateur team Illi-Bikes Cycling Team. She won the women's scratch race at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2012 and 2013, and competed for her country in the road race at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing eleventh.

Lauren Ellis is a New Zealand former road and track cyclist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Brennauer</span> German cyclist

Lisa Brennauer is a German former racing cyclist, who rode professionaly between 2009 and 2022, for six different teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasmin Duehring</span> Canadian cyclist

Jasmin Duehring is a German-born Canadian cyclist, who currently rides for American amateur team Virginia's Blue Ridge–TWENTY24. Duehring was part of the Canadian team that won bronze medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's team pursuit. She was also part of the team that won gold at the 2011 Pan American Games in the team pursuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Gate</span> New Zealand road cyclist

Aaron Gate is a New Zealand road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Burgos BH. He represented his country in track cycling at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Gate is the first New Zealand athlete to win four gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaime Nielsen</span> New Zealand cyclist and rower

Jaime Nielsen is a New Zealand track and road cyclist, and a former representative rower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jolien D'Hoore</span> Belgian racing cyclist

Jolien D'hoore is a Belgian former track and road cyclist, who rode professionally between 2007 and 2021 for the Topsport Vlaanderen–Ridley, Lotto–Belisol Ladies, Wiggle High5, Mitchelton–Scott and SD Worx teams. D'hoore is a 29-time national track champion as well as a four-time national road champion at all competition levels. She won the bronze medal in the omnium at the 2016 Olympics and during her career was one of the strongest sprinters in the women's peloton. Since retiring as a rider, D'hoore now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Women's Continental Team AG Insurance–Soudal–Quick-Step.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Arango (cyclist)</span> Colombian cyclist (born 1986)

Juan Esteban Arango Carvajal is a Colombian road and track cyclist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rushlee Buchanan</span> New Zealand cyclist

Rushlee Buchanan is a New Zealand track and road cyclist. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's madison, and Women's team pursuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanna Solovey</span> Ukrainian racing cyclist

Hanna Solovey is a Ukrainian road and track racing cyclist, who currently rides for Ukrainian amateur team Lviv Cycling Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viktor Manakov (cyclist, born 1992)</span> Russian cyclist

Viktor Viktorovich Manakov is a Russian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team ABTF–Feirense. His parents Viktor Manakov and Jolanta Polikevičiūtė, and his aunt Rasa Polikevičiūtė were all professional cyclists.

References

  1. Tara Whitten at Cycling Archives
  2. 1 2 "Track World Championships - Silver Medal for Tara Whitten". Canadian Cycling Association. 28 March 2009. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.
  3. "London 2012 - Track Cycling - Women's Team Pursuit". olympic.org. IOC. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  4. "London 2012 - Track Cycling - Omnium Women". olympic.org. IOC. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Brown, Michael (13 June 2016). "There and back again: from the Olympic podium to the convocation stage". University of Alberta: News & Events. University of Alberta. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  6. Tozer, Jamie (29 June 2016). "Returning Olympians highlight Canada's cycling team". olympic.ca. Canadian Olympic Committee . Retrieved 29 June 2016.