Watt Likely To Put Road Before Rival
The Age
Tuesday April 29, 1997
Controversial cyclist Kathy Watt is likely to forgo a possible pursuit match race against her arch-rival Lucy Tyler-Sharman at the world track cycling championships in Perth in August to concentrate on the road season.
Watt, 32, indicated yesterday that hamstring injuries, which have kept her out of competition since the Victorian road championships late last August, were healing even more slowly than expected.
She said she was planning to race in her first competition this weekend at a low-key Melbourne club championship.
Her manager, Carey Hall, said: "At this stage we're leaning towards concentrating on the road for this season. It doesn't mean Kathy has given up the track - there is no way her track career is over - it is just a question of whether Kathy would be in shape for the worlds in August. The world championships for the road are in October, which gives us a longer time to get ready."
Watt has not qualified for the 3000 metres individual pursuit, the event in which she won a silver medal at the Barcelona Olympics, having failed to go under three minutes 40 seconds since the Atlanta Games.
But Australia still has two top qualifiers for the pursuit - Tyler-Sharman and her Australian Institute of Sport training partner Karen Barrow, of Victoria.
The eagerly anticipated war on wheels between Tyler-Sharman and Watt will have to wait.
© 1997 The Age