Velodromes, Aerodynamic helmets, Sprint, Team Sprint, Keirin, Team Pursuit, Omnium, all these describe Track Cycling. Are you ready to discover its rules and regulations at London Olympics 2012?

Track Cycling

Charged with acceleration and fortitude, the dynamic sport of Track Cycling will be held at purpose-built Velodrome (oval shaped track made of wood or concrete) in the Olympic Park at London Olympics 2012 from Thursday 2 August till Tuesday 7 August 2012. The new Velodrome is equipped with 5-metre lengths of Siberian pine to discourage any further accidents as in the case of the 2011 Track Cycling World Cup, where Malaysia's Aziz Awang found a splinter stuck in his leg after a collision. The new Velodrome is also banked to an angle of 42 degrees at its steepest point to enhance speed. Velodrome was the first competition venue to be completed in the Olympic Park as soon as January 2011. In London Olympics 2012, 188 athletes (104 men, 84 women) will compete for 10 gold medals! There will be ten Olympic Track Cycling events (five for men, five for women). In 2008 Beijing Olympics, seven of these events were for men while only three were for women.

Track Cycling Rules And Regulations
  • The track must be from 250 to 333.33 meters in length. To convert the Velodrome into the fastest track, it angles 42 degrees at its steepest point.
  • Even the internal conditions are also customized such as maintaining high temperature and air still in hopes to break the previous Olympic records! With such cutting-edge state-of-art, riders are expected to cross the speed of 75mph.
  • According to the UCI rules, the flying 200 m time trial is the first round of competition for the athletes to qualify for the sprint competition. In this round, every rider finishes 2 to 3 warm up laps and then finishes the final 200 m, which is generally just under a lap.
  • If you envy the physique of Chris Hoy, then start working out religiously! Yes, a lot of exercise is required to build up strong and tough thighs similar to Chris Hoy’s with a circumference of 27in - enabling him to get from zero to 44mph in less than 10 seconds! Thus, athletes are supposed to work out well to build up their stamina and to eliminate body fat.
Track Cycling History
In 1870, Track Cycling came into existence in UK, where it was performed on indoor wooden tracks (similar to modern Velodromes consisting of two straights and slightly banked turns). Gradually, Track Cycling has become extremely popular not only in Britain but also in other parts of UK magnetizing large number of spectators. Track Cycling was held indoors at the Olympic Games for the first time in Montreal 1976, which aided in controlling spectators and charging them with entrance fee to boost this sport economically as well. Since those days, famous track centers in Britain are Birmingham, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester and London. With demand and technological advancement, track cycles have become much lighter accompanied by aerodynamic helmets. Women's Track Cycling was first included in Seoul Olympics 1988. Track Cycling has been hosted in Olympics since 1896, except for the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, when the hosts were unable to create the facility for the same.