Golden girl Kathy Watt will continue to press for a dual role at the Atlanta Olympics when she contests the national road time-trial in Gosford today. Watt, 31, rode a near world-record time in the 3000m pursuit at the national track championships in Perth in February and has set her sights on both the track and the road at Atlanta. The blonde dynamo crashed during a training ride three days after Perth and spent seven days off the bike receiving treatment for a lower back muscle injury. But she showed she has fully recovered by winning six of the seven races she has contested in the past three weeks.
Watt's manager-partner, Carey Hall, said yesterday her main focus this year has been the national track and road trials. "Hopefully, she can win both races here (time-trial and road race) and then get on with thinking about Atlanta,: Hall said last night. "The course for the time-trial is probably harder than for the road race because it is up and down all the way and very similar to the Olympic course."
Unlike her preparation for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in which she won gold in the road race, Watt will combine her road training with a track build-up. Victorian Institute of Sport coach Dave Sanders will join Watt in Florida on July 1 for intensive track training. Fellow Victorian Institute of Sport riders Tracey Watson and Anna Wilson and Queenslander Cathy Reardon are expected to pose the biggest threat to Watt in today's time-trial, over 25km at Calga, 50km north of Sydney on the Central Coast.
European-based professionals Henk Vogels and Scott Sunderland will not compete in the men's 40km time-trial, according to national coach Heiko Salzwedel. "Henk rang me and said he is not allowed to race because he is still suffering headaches from a crash two weeks ago,: Salzwedel said. Sunderland's non-appearance has now put him out of contention for a berth at Atlanta because he has missed two of the three selection races.
Salzwedel said the nationals loomed as the most open for years. "If you asked me to name the pre-race favourite I couldn't tell you," he said. "I know (Mt Isa's) Brett Dennis is especially keen to win the time-trial, but I can name at least a handful of other contenders who are keen to beat him."
From Gareth Coco