Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Yolande Speedy |
Born | Johannesburg, South Africa | 30 December 1976
Height | 1.66 m (5 ft 5+1⁄2 in) |
Weight | 60 kg (132 lb) |
Team information | |
Current team | Team Qhubeka NextHash |
Discipline | Mountain biking |
Role | Rider |
Rider type | Cross-country |
Amateur team | |
2007–2010 | IMC Racing Activeworx |
Professional team | |
2011– | Team Qhubeka NextHash |
Major wins | |
2013 1st Absa Cape Epic Women's Category 2013 1st Absa Cape Epic Mixed Category |
Yolande Speedy (born December 30, 1976, in Johannesburg) is a South African professional mountain biker. [1] She has claimed two gold medals in the women's elite cross-country race at the African Mountain Bike Championships (2007 and 2013), and also represented her nation South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics. [2] [3] In 2007 Speedy competed in the Absa Cape Epic Mixed Category with team mate Paul Cordes, winning the category. She claimed 1st place again in 2013, this time in the Women's Category with team mate Catherine Williamson. Throughout her sporting career, Speedy has been training as an amateur rider for the IMC Racing Activeworx Mountain Biking Team, until she turned professional in 2010 and thereby raced for more than three seasons on Team Qhubeka NextHash. [4]
Speedy qualified for the South African squad, as a lone female rider, in the women's cross-country race at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing by finishing first and receiving an automatic berth from the UCI African Championships and by recording dominant triumphs in the final stage of the Mazda MTN National Cross-Country Series in Nelspruit. [5] [6] With only two laps left to complete the race, Speedy suffered from a heat-related fatigue, and instead decided to pull off directly from the course, finishing only in twenty-second place. [7] [8]
Sharon Laws was a British professional cyclist and environmental consultant.
The women's cross-country mountain biking at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the Laoshan Mountain Bike Course on August 23, 2008.
Maja Martyna Włoszczowska is a Polish mountain biker. She is the 2008 and 2016 Olympic silver medalist in cross-country cycling. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Burry Willie Stander was a South African mountain biker, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup under-23 men's cross-country 2009 world champion.
Cherise Willeit is a South African professional road cyclist. She has won a single African and four South African championship titles, in both the road race and the time trial, and later represented her nation at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Willeit also raced for Belgium's Lotto–Belisol Ladies professional cycling team in 2011 and 2012.
Marissa Stander Van der Merwe is a retired South African professional road cyclist. She has awarded two South African championship titles each in both road race and time trial, and later represented her nation South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Marissa also raced for the nation's MTN Cycling team before her official retirement in 2011.
Catherine Cheatley is a retired New Zealand professional road and track cyclist. She won two New Zealand championship titles in both road race and individual track pursuit, and later represented her nation New Zealand at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Before her official retirement in June 2012 because of sustained bike crash-related injuries, Cheatley moved to the United States to race for the Cheerwine and Colavita–Sutter Home pro cycling teams in the women's elite professional events on the UCI Women's World Cup, and UCI World Championships, where she earned the bronze medal for the women's points race in 2007.
Michal Prokop is a Czech professional BMX and Mountain Bike Four-cross rider. Started his sporting career at the age of five, Prokop has claimed two World Cup circuit gold medals, and three World Championship jerseys in the men's elite category, emerging him as one of the most successful fourcross riders in the sport's brief history.
Vera Sergeyevna Andreyeva is a Russian amateur mountain biker. She represented her nation Russia, as a 20-year-old junior, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and later finished second in the women's elite cross-country race at the 2012 Russian Mountain Biking Championships.
Tereza Huříková is a Czech professional road cyclist and mountain biker. Throughout her sporting career, she has won numerous Czech national championship titles in women's cross-country, road races and time trial, and more importantly, a prestigious gold medal in the junior time trial at the 2004 UCI World Championships. Huříková later represented the Czech Republic, as a 20-year-old junior, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also rode for USC Chirio Forno d'Asolo and Česká Spořitelna MTB Cycling Teams since she turned professional in 2006. Currently, Huříková trains and races under an exclusive, two-year sponsorship contract for Germany's Central Haibike Pro Team, along with her teammate and 2008 Olympic champion Sabine Spitz.
Petra Henzi is a retired Swiss professional mountain biker. Throughout her sporting career, she has won numerous Swiss national championship titles, and more importantly, a total of four prestigious medals in women's cross-country race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Henzi later represented her nation Switzerland, as a 38-year-old senior, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also rode professionally for more than five seasons on Fischer-BMC Team, before retiring from the sport in early 2010.
Nathalie Jessica Schneitter is a Swiss professional mountain biker. Throughout her sporting career, she has won numerous Swiss national championship titles, and more importantly, a gold medal in the under-23 category at the 2008 European Mountain Bike Championships. Schneitter also handed an opportunity to represent her nation Switzerland at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and later rode professionally for more than five seasons on an exclusive sponsorship contract with the Colnago Team.
Dellys Starr is a retired Australian amateur mountain biker. She has won two Australian national championship titles in the women's cross-country race, and later represented her nation Australia, as a 31-year-old veteran, at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in her home turf and at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Starr currently resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she shares with her husband and American cyclist Ryan Starr.
Roel Paulissen is a Belgian former professional mountain biker. Throughout his sporting career since 1993, he has won more than ten Belgian national championship titles, mounted top-five finishes at both the European and World Cup series, and claimed a total of four medals, including two golds, in men's cross-country race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Paulissen also represented his nation Belgium in four editions of the Olympic Games, where he competed in men's mountain biking since it officially became an Olympic sport in 1996. By the start of the 2010 season, Paulissen had been overshadowed by a doping issue after he tested positive for clomiphene that sidelined and effectively ended his mountain biking career. Having lifted a two-year suspension from doping in early 2013, Paulissen came out from his short retirement to join and race professionally for the Italian team Torpado.
Dario Alejandro Gasco is an Argentine professional mountain biker. He won a bronze medal in men's cross-country racing at the 2007 Pan American Games, and later represented his nation Argentina at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Throughout his sporting career, Gasco has been training and riding for four consecutive seasons on Zenith MTB International, and Spain's Massi Cycling Team.
Marek Galiński was a Polish professional mountain biker and road racing cyclist. During his sporting career, he won nine Polish national championship titles and a silver medal in men's cross-country racing at the 2003 UCI World Cup series in Sankt Wendel, Germany. Galinski also represented his nation Poland in four editions of the Olympic Games, where he competed in men's mountain biking from the time that it officially became an Olympic sport in 1996. Galinski raced professionally for more than five seasons on the JBG2 Professional MTB Team. After his retirement from the sport in 2011, Galinski worked as an assistant coach of both Polish and Russian mountain bike national teams. Upon his return from a training camp in Cyprus on 17 March 2014, Galinski was suddenly killed in a car accident near Jędrzejów.
Christoph Reinhold Soukup is an Austrian professional mountain biker. Riding the sport for more than 15 years, Soukup has won fourteen Austrian national championship titles in men's mountain biking, and later represented his nation Austria in two editions of the Olympic Games, where he installed top-fifteen finishes in the same tournament. Throughout his sporting career, Soukup has been training and racing professionally for more than a decade on the Hitec Sports Team, although he had appeared short stints under a sponsorship contract with the Team FujiBikes and Mérida Biking Team.
Karl Emil Lindgren is a Swedish professional mountain biker. Riding the sport for more than 15 years, Lindgren has won ten Swedish national championship titles in men's mountain biking, and later represented his nation Sweden at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2009, Lindgren reached the summit of his mountain biking career by grabbing a first-place trophy and a yellow jersey at the Afxentia Stage Race, also known as the Sunshine Cup, in Cyprus. Lindgren currently trains and races professionally for the 2013 season on the Giant Pro XC Team, although he has appeared short stints on Bianchi, Full-Dynamix, De Brink-Ten Tusscher, and Rabobank cycling teams.
Yader Zoli is an Italian professional mountain biker. He has claimed three Italian national championship titles in men's mountain biking, and later represented his nation Italy in two editions of the Olympic Games. Zoli currently trains and races for the 2013 season on the Torpado Surfing Shop pro cycling team, along with Belgian rider and four-time Olympian Roel Paulissen.
This article details the qualifying phase for cycling at the 2024 Summer Olympics. A total of 514 cyclists, with an equal distribution between men and women, will compete in twenty-two medal events across five disciplines at these Games.