UCI announces Olympic track slots

The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced Friday the number of places earned for the Beijing Olympic Games track cycling events. The National Olympic Committees of each country were informed of how many places they've earned and for which events. In total, 188 places for 153 men and 35 women were awarded to 34 different countries.

Of those places, twelve were awarded to specific athletes who earned a berth through winning either the World Cup, World Championships or B World Championships. A total of 21 riders men were named for the non-transferable places; three men in each of the sprint, keirin, individual pursuit and points race, and three women in each of the sprint, pursuit and points race.

Great Britain tops the list of entrants with 22 spots, seven of which are non-transferable through the five World Championship titles of Chris Hoy (two), Bradley Wiggins, Victoria Pendleton and Rebecca Romero, while two were through World Cup wins (Hoy and Chris Newton).

The Netherlands landed 20 spots, while Australia, France and Russia each earned 18. Ukraine and the USA each took twelve.

The most notable absence on the qualifying list is that of the Australian Madison team, which won Olympic Gold in 2004 with Graeme Brown and Stuart O'Grady. The Australians failed to earn enough UCI points to qualify for the World Championships and missed their last chance to earn an opportunity to repeat that Olympic gold performance in China.

Similarly, Canada did not earn a place in the women's sprint, where Lori-Ann Muenzer won in Athens. That country only earned two berths, one in each of the men's and women's points races.

The Olympic track events will take place from August 15-19.