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U.S. Cyclists Finish World Championships With Seven Medals
Whitsell and Compton win three medals to lead U.S.
By Marvin Olberding
// U.S. Paralympics
// September 19, 2006
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Alejandro Albor won the Men's HCC Road Race convincingly at the 2006 IPC Cycling World Championships.
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AIGLE, Switzerland - U.S. cyclists won a total of seven medals at the 2006 IPC Cycling World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland, which concluded Monday, led by Karissa Whitsell (Springfield, Ore.) and Katie Compton's (pilot, Colorado Springs, Colo.) three medals and Alejandro Albor's (Elk Grove, Calif.) gold-medal performance in the Men's HCC Road Race.
Whitsell and Compton rode to two silver medals in their two track races, representing the only U.S. medals won at the velodrome. They followed those performances by heading to the road and winning gold in the Time Trial, defeating the second-place finishers by more than 27 seconds. A crash in the Road Race prevented them from making a run at a fourth medal.
Albor, a 2004 Paralympic silver medalist, only competed in the Road Race, but made the most of it, blowing away the field and winning the 46.4km event by nearly a minute and-a-half.
Barb Buchan (CP3, Bend, Ore.) had a solid World Championships, as well, winning silver in the Women's LC3-4/CP3 Time Trial and setting a new CP3 world record in the 500m Time Trial with a time of 49.916 seconds.
Allison Jones and Scott Gadberry (both of Colorado Springs, Colo.) rounded out the medal count, as each athlete took home bronze medals in the LC3-4/CP3 Time Trial and LC3 Road Race, respectively.
The U.S. also saw top-5 performances from Jones, Ron Williams (Birmingham, Ala.), Monica Bascio (Evergreen, Colo.) and Stu Flacks (Davie, Fla.) When all was said and done, the U.S. coaching staff looked favorably at their athletes' performances.
"The World Championships are always a challenge because it is the culmination of the season and the focus of our time and energy," said U.S. Paralympics Cycling Coach Jim Lehman. "Although we had to overcome some adversity during the course of the week, the athletes performed very well and Alejandro's gold medal is proof that things are going well and the program is headed in the right direction. Everyone is motivated and excited to begin the preparation for next season and this is the perfect springboard for that process."
Full results from the 2006 IPC Cycling World Championships can be found at http://www.2006ipc-cycling.com/.
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