Tara Whitten
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Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Tara Alice Whitten |
Born | Edmonton,Alberta,Canada | 13 July 1980
Team information | |
Current team | Retired |
Disciplines |
|
Role | Rider |
Rider type | Endurance |
Professional team | |
2011–2012 | Team TIBCO–To The Top |
Medal record |
Tara Alice Whitten(born 13 July 1980) is aCanadianformerracing cyclist.[1]
Career
[edit]A formercross-country skierfromEdmonton,Alberta,Whitten began track racing seriously in 2008 having dabbled in it since 2005.[2]The same year she won the points race and individual pursuit at theCanadian National Track Championships,and also took the bronze medal in the scratch race and 500 meter time trial events.
Whitten began the 2008–2009 track cycling season strongly, winning two silver medals at first round of theTrack World CupinManchester,United Kingdom,in October. She went on to take two bronze medals in the third round inCali,Colombia,and a further two silver medals in the fifth and final round inCopenhagen,Denmark,in February 2009.
In March 2009, Whitten won the silver medal in theOmniumat the2009 UCI Track Cycling World ChampionshipsinPruszków,the first time the event was included in the championships.[2]
In December 2009, Whitten rode on the team that won the gold medal in the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics Women's Team Pursuit in Cali, Colombia, along with fellow Canadian National Team membersLaura Brownand Stephanie Roorda, concurrently setting a new Canadian National Record in this event as well with a time of 3:27.289. Of note, the Women's Team Pursuit has been added as an Olympic event for 2012. She also won two silver medals, in the Individual Pursuit (time of 3:34.547) and Points Race.
In March 2010, Whitten won the gold medal in theOmniumandPoints raceat the2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championshipsin Ballerup.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was part of the Canadian team that won the bronze medal in the women's team pursuit.[3]She finished fourth in the omnium.[4][5]
In March 2016 Whitten was injured in Rio de Janeiro during a visit to inspect the road course for the 2016 Summer Olympics, running her bike into the back of a bus and being knocked unconscious and breaking a bone in the base of her skull. The interruption to her training delayed her qualifying for the Olympics,[5]but she was officially named toCanada's 2016 Olympic team.[6]
Personal life
[edit]Whitten was awarded a PhD inneurosciencefrom theUniversity of Albertaon 10 June 2016, having first earned a science degree in 2006 and been accepted into anelectrophysiologylab as a master's student in 2007, while taking periodic breaks from her studies to focus on cycling full-time. She began a post-doctoral fellowship in concussion research at theUniversity of Calgaryin fall 2016.[5]
Major results
[edit]Track
[edit]- 2008
- National Track Championships
- 2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
- 2nd
Individual pursuit, Manchester
- 2nd
Scratch, Manchester
- 3rd
Individual pursuit, Cali
- 3rd
Points race, Cali
- 2nd
- 2009
- 2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics,Cali
- 1st
Team pursuit
- 2nd
Individual pursuit
- 2nd
Points race
- 1st
- 2nd
Omnium,UCI Track Cycling World Championships
- 2nd
Individual pursuit,2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics,Copenhagen
- 2010
- UCI Track Cycling World Championships
- 1st
Omnium
- 1st
Points race
- 1st
- Omnium,2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
- Commonwealth Games
- 3rd
Individual pursuit
- 3rd
Points race
- 3rd
Team sprint
- 3rd
- 2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics,Beijing
- 3rd
Individual pursuit
- 3rd
Team pursuit
- 3rd
- 2011
- 1st
Omnium,UCI Track Cycling World Championships
- 1st Overall, Omnium,2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Ranking
- 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics,Beijing
- 2nd
Omnium,2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup,Cali
- 2012
- 2nd
Team pursuit,2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup,London
- 3rd
Team pursuit,Summer Olympics
- 3rd
Team pursuit,UCI Track Cycling World Championships
Road
[edit]- 2009
- 1st
Time trial,National Road Championships
- 8thTime trial,UCI Road World Championships
- 2010
- Commonwealth Games
- 1st
Time trial
- 7thRoad race
- 1st
- National Road Championships
- 2ndRoad race
- 3rdTime trial
- 6thChrono Gatineau
- 7thTime trial,UCI Road World Championships
- 9thGrand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau
- 2011
- 2ndTime trial,National Road Championships
- 4thTime trial,UCI Road World Championships
- 6thChrono Champenois
- 2012
- 4thChrono Gatineau
- 2015
- 2nd
Time trial,Pan American Road Championships
- 8th OverallJoe Martin Stage Race
- 8thChrono Gatineau
- 2016
- 1st
Time trial,National Road Championships
- 1st OverallCascade Cycling Classic
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stages 2 (ITT) & 5
- 2ndChrono Gatineau
- 7thTime trial,Summer Olympics
References
[edit]- ^Tara WhittenatCycling Archives
- ^ab"Track World Championships - Silver Medal for Tara Whitten".Canadian Cycling Association. 28 March 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 8 July 2011.
- ^"London 2012 - Track Cycling - Women's Team Pursuit".olympic.org.IOC.Retrieved22 December2014.
- ^"London 2012 - Track Cycling - Omnium Women".olympic.org.IOC.Retrieved14 June2016.
- ^abcBrown, Michael (13 June 2016)."There and back again: from the Olympic podium to the convocation stage".University of Alberta: News & Events.University of Alberta.Retrieved14 June2016.
- ^Tozer, Jamie (29 June 2016)."Returning Olympians highlight Canada's cycling team".olympic.ca.Canadian Olympic Committee.Retrieved29 June2016.
External links
[edit]- Tara WhittenatUCI
- Tara Whittenat Cycling Archives
- Tara Whittenat ProCyclingStats
- Tara WhittenatFIS(cross-country)
- Tara WhittenatOlympics.com
- 1980 births
- Living people
- Canadian female cyclists
- Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Olympic cyclists for Canada
- Olympic medalists in cycling
- Olympic bronze medalists for Canada
- Cyclists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
- Cyclists from Alberta
- Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Sportspeople from Edmonton
- UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women)
- Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada
- Canadian track cyclists
- Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games