CRAIG MacLean admitted last night that he is "not optimistic" that he will be selected for this summer's Olympic Games, and that, at 36, he could be facing retirement.
MacLean's last realistic chance to convince the selectors that he should go to Beijing came at the Manchester Velodrome last night, with a trial event pitting him against Jason Kenny and the Olympic gold medallist from the 2000 Sydney Games, Jason Q
ueally.
With three sprint cyclists already selected – Jamie Staff, Chris Hoy and Ross Edgar – only one place remains, and the three riders were each given an opportunity to impress in specially staged team sprint trials.
In the event, MacLean and Queally recorded the same time – 13.16 seconds for a flying lap of the 250m track – while 20-year old Kenny went two-tenths of a second quicker. He is now the outstanding favourite to claim the final place in the cycling team, which will be announced on 14 July.
"I've had better days," said MacLean. "I've had some good training sessions recently but today was not my best ride. It wasn't world class by today's standards, and I don't have much call to be optimistic about my chances of going to Beijing now. I don't see how they could justify taking me."
MacLean, from Grantown-on-Spey, has competed in two Olympic Games, winning a silver medal in the team sprint in Sydney, and was keen to put the disappointment of Athens in 2004, when his preparation was disrupted by illness and he performed below par in his two events, behind him.
Instead it looks as if that might have been his final appearance on the big stage, and MacLean, who turns 37 later this month, admits that he might now have to contemplate retirement.
"I don't know what (not going to Beijing] would mean for me," he said. "I can't see (British Cycling] continuing to fund me, and my funding runs out around the time of the Olympics.
"I could drop down (into a lower funding band], but given that I'm not a prospect for London (in 2012], I think that'd be unlikely. Whether it marks the end or not I don't know."
MacLean, who suffered a serious muscle injury at the end of last year, has one final opportunity to force his way into the team. A one-lap trial on Monday will put him head-to-head with Kenny, but MacLean isn't holding his breath. "I'd have to do something pretty spectacular," he said.
Queally, who is 14 months older than MacLean, finds himself in a similar position and could also be staring retirement in the face. Their departure would mark the end of a glorious era, with both riders instrumental in the British track cycling revolution.
The last ten years have seen the team transformed into the world's dominant track cycling nation, with MacLean contributing a massive seven medals in the world championships, as well as two, including one gold, for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games.
In the end, they have proved victims of the transformation they helped instigate, with the competition for places in the British team arguably tougher than in any other.
The full article contains 539 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
