Carmen Small and her lawyer Howard Jacobs intend to fight the USA Cycling’s Selection Committee's decision to exclude her from the four-woman team which will compete at the Rio Olympic Games in an arbitration hearing, according to an ESPN report.
The US time trial champion believes that she meets the criteria for being selected. According to ESPN’s report, the hearing procedure is "defined by Section 9 of the US Olympic Committee's bylaws." A ruling must be made by July 18 ahead of the Olympics, which start August 5.
Jacobs told ESPN that Small is not looking to replace a specific rider, only to show that she meets the criteria to be selected. Small wrote to ESPN, "This showing of my ability in my mind was not just worthy of my Olympic selection, but also the potential to be a gold-medal favourite. This time around, I feel that I am the best athlete for the selection.''
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The UCI announced the nations and their quotas for the Rio Olympics last month and the US secured four spots for the road race and two for the time trial. However, the two riders racing in the time trial must also compete in the road race.
USA Cycling announced last week that the Selection Committee had chosen Megan Guarnier, who was automatically selected after placing third at the World Championships last year, and Mara Abbott for the road race. Evelyn Stevens and Kristin Armstrong where chosen to compete in both the road race and the time trial.
Two days after the announcement, Small, who was a member of the US team long list for the Olympic Games, took to Twitter to express her heartbreak over not being selected.
- Selection decisions are made by a Selection Committee appointed by USA Cycling comprised of nine former elite athletes from multiple disciplines. Members of the Selection Committee must not be coaching any Olympic eligible athletes and must disclose any potential conflict of interest prior to any selection. Any individual with a potential conflict of interest, be it a USA Cycling coach or a member of the Selection Committee, recuses him or herself from the selection process and does not participate. The Selection Committee does not include any USA Cycling staff.
- The Olympic Team is selected according to the 2016 Olympic Selection Procedures approved by the Selection Committee and the United States Olympic Committee. The selection procedures were published in March 2015. The selection procedures are designed to be objective and are in fact required by the USOC to be objective. To the extent the Selection Committee is required to use discretion, its discretion must be exercised on the basis of objective data. Objective criteria provide our athletes with guidance on what they must do to be selected to a team.
- The selection procedures provide the means for athletes to automatically qualify for the Olympics. They also provide the means for athletes to be selected on a discretionary basis placing an overall emphasis on performance in top-level international competition over domestic competition.
- Among all Olympic selections, only men’s BMX had a “win-and-you’re-in” Olympic Trials. All other selections were made according to various selection procedures. This year’s National Championships were not used as automatic qualifiers for any discipline. The reasoning behind this approach is that consideration of a broad range of results, particularly from high-level international competition, results in the selection of athletes with the highest Olympic medal capability.
- Any athlete who believes they have been wrongly denied the opportunity to participate in the Olympics by USA Cycling may file a complaint with the USOC under Section 9 of the USOC Bylaws. If the complaint cannot be settled to the athlete’s satisfaction, the athlete may file a claim with the AAA to arbitrate the dispute. Aware of this fact, the Selection Committee makes its selections with the knowledge an arbitrator might later carefully review their decisions.
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