The "modern" bicycle as we know it today was invented by England's J.K. Starley in 1885, and cycling has been an Olympic sport from the very first modern Games in 1896. At Beijing 2008, cycling is contested in four disciplines: track, road, mountain biking, and BMX.
Road cycling and mountain biking are the best known. Road racing has been part of the Games since 1896, when the event was held on the marathon course — riders covered two laps for a total of 87km. Women only got the chance to compete in Olympic cycling from 1984. The road discipline includes a distance race and a time trial: men ride 239km, women 120km in the road race, while in the time trial (riders start at 90-second intervals) men cover 46km and women 31km.
Mountain biking, the second-oldest cycling discipline, has been part of the Olympics since Atlanta 1996. Women ride 30–40km and men 40–50km, with the exact distance set the evening before the race depending on weather, aiming for the top riders to finish in around 2 hours — typically five to six laps for women and six to seven for men.
Track cycling has been around for a long time but only became a regular fixture from Sydney 2000 onward. Riders compete on a short oval track — the velodrome — banked at 42 degrees.
To draw younger fans to the Games, BMX (Bicycle Moto Cross) debuts as an Olympic discipline at Beijing 2008. Invented in California in the late 1960s, BMX has grown hugely popular; the first world championship was held in 1982, and BMX officially joined the International Cycling Union (UCI) in 1993. Races run on a roughly 350-meter course packed with jumps, banked turns and other obstacles.
China has long been known as the "kingdom of bicycles." Despite the growing number of cars on the streets of its big cities, the sheer number of bicycles doesn't seem to be shrinking — though quantity hasn't translated into competitive success at the Olympics so far.
China won its first Olympic cycling medal — bronze — in Sydney in 2000. In 2004, Jiang Yonghua added a silver. If that progression continues, a gold medal at the 2008 Games isn't out of the question. As in other sports, Chinese cyclists appear to keep improving — China climbed from 20th to 12th in the world BMX rankings in 2006.
At Beijing 2008, cycling events run from August 9–23 at the Laoshan Velodrome, Laoshan Mountain Bike Course, Laoshan BMX field, and the urban road cycling course. The Laoshan Mountain Bike Course — where US President George W. Bush rode alongside top Chinese athletes in November 2005 — was completed in early 2008.
Chinese medalists in cycling since 1984:
Athens 2004:
Jiang Yonghua (500m time trial, W, silver)
Sydney 2000:
Jiang Cuihua (500m time trial, W, bronze)
Atlanta 1996: no medals
Barcelona 1992: no medals
Seoul 1988: no medals
Los Angeles 1984: no medals
