December 18/06 8:54 am - CCA Interview with Curt Harnett

Posted by Editor on 12/18/06
 

CCA Interview with Curt Harnett

Gina Grain (Victoria, BC) placed eight in the women's scratch race early on Sunday afternoon (December 17, 2006) at the Krylatskoye velodrome, winning further World Cup points for Canada at the Moscow UCI Track World Cup # 2.

The 2006 World Scratch Race sliver medalist, Grain was eighth in a massive field of 27 starters in the scratch race today. It came down to a mass sprint, since no rider was able to gain a lap, and the race was eventually won by sprinter Annalisa Cucinotta - a keirin medallist for Italy at this year's European championships. Lesya Kalitovska (Ukraine) earned the silver medal and Yoanka Gonzalez Perez (Cuba) the bronze.

Also, yesterday evening (Saturday, December 16th) Theo Bos (Netherlands) broke Curt Harnett's 11-year old World Record (set in Bogota, Colombia, in 1995) for the 200 M flying start. Having narrowly failing to break Harnett's mark of 9.865 seconds in sprint qualifying, the Dutchman made a second (out of competition) attempt in which he set a new best of 9.772 seconds.

"I am not surprised to learn that it was Theo who broke the record," said Curt Harnett to the Canadian Cycling Association in an interview from Europe. "I told Theo in Athens (in 2004) that I thought that he would be the one to break it. That kid is fast!"

"After a while, you forget about these things (to hold a world record), so to me it is more like getting woken up from a deep sleep. It was nice to hold it for so long but it was also a long time ago! It was a fun thing to have, but as the old saying goes - to some effect - records are made to be broken!"

"I am also NOT surprised to learn that it was broken in Moscow. It is a large (333 m), fast track that is suited for high speed," added the Mississauga, Ontario resident, adding that he never did get to race in Moscow himself.