This is terrible. I can't imagine having your dream seemingly come true, and then having the rug pulled out from under you.
Austin, if you're reading...
This is terrible. I can't imagine having your dream seemingly come true, and then having the rug pulled out from under you.
Austin, if you're reading this, keep your head up. You're only getting faster, and you'll soon be a mainstay on this team.
Regarding Gwin's claims, are they true and did USAC simply accidentally break someone's heart, or is his claim that petitioning isn't necessary untrue?
Also, does USAC have any mechanism that allows them to petition for an additional spot? If so, they owe it to Austin to try that route.
Gutted for Austin Dooley, what a complete cluster. The strange thing is, I assumed all athletes know they have to petition for spots if not automatic qualifiers (and automatic qualifiers I think is some heavy criteria? National Champ, or podium at a world cup?).....regardless, this whole situation sucks and maybe USAC can finally hire someone full time to focus on DH management (I know, a pipe dream).
This is terrible. I can't imagine having your dream seemingly come true, and then having the rug pulled out from under you.
Austin, if you're reading...
This is terrible. I can't imagine having your dream seemingly come true, and then having the rug pulled out from under you.
Austin, if you're reading this, keep your head up. You're only getting faster, and you'll soon be a mainstay on this team.
Regarding Gwin's claims, are they true and did USAC simply accidentally break someone's heart, or is his claim that petitioning isn't necessary untrue?
Also, does USAC have any mechanism that allows them to petition for an additional spot? If so, they owe it to Austin to try that route.
I think the only way to get another spot is when the world champs is the host nation, of which we are not. But then again, I am no USAC/UCI expert.
Gwin imo should of remained out. Hes not going to place well and he had the last almost 15 years to get a rainbow jersey. No disrespect but the jig is up.
USA cycling screwed Sue Haywood out of the Olympics a decade or so ago. She jumped through all of their hoops and should have gone but they picked someone else (Mary Mcconnally?). Sue sued USAC and won (undisclosed settlement).
Remember those awesome "NORBA hates you " t-shirts?! USA cycling hates everyone, especially downhillers but mtb in general, just like the UCI. Old out of touch men flexing their egos and hurting hard working athletes.
Oh boy! A good ole' sports debate!!! I love these, because clearly we're going to prove something once-and-for-all!!!
First of all, Gene is right. Gene has...
Oh boy! A good ole' sports debate!!! I love these, because clearly we're going to prove something once-and-for-all!!!
First of all, Gene is right. Gene has also been around this shit than most of you have been alive. (coughs loudly) A little respect for the dude, please (someone post the pict). He knows what he's talking about.
Second, anyone putting any other American DH racer in the same sentence of "best ever" has completely lost their ability to do any kind of math. While Gwin is not the best ever DH racer (top 10 though), he is the best the US has ever had by a long (long) shot.
Look at Gwin's results at the WC level. The only race he's missing from his incredible resume is World Champs. To argue anyone from the US has done what he's done is complete rubbish. Especially in the "modern era" where the competitiveness of the sport ramped up.
Before everyone jumps down my throat, this is not to take anything away from Luca, Dak, Neko and the entire crop of DH racers that are somehow figuring it out (I literally do not understand - no races in the US, no proper tracks - and these dudes keep finding a way). This also isn't to say he's our "best shot at winning" (though I wouldn't want to bet against him). I'd put him in slot 2,3 or 4.
Sure, maybe Gwin did drop the ball, but the fact is, in 2021 you could program an algorithm to accurately select the team that has the best chance of winning. Yet the governing body still is using some esoteric process from when I raced DH (like a lifetime ago).
Oh, and yeah, I looked at results - Gwin has had a fall off since 2019 to now. Bike setup may be to blame, but I really thing its more the "family effect". You see other guys go through this too (Eli Tomac comes to mind). Buy a few houses, get married, your brain fully matures (according to science) and you go "hmmm, maybe I should leave this risk management tool on a bit more as I plummet to possible death".
Anyway, like Tomac, I still think Gwin has a few more surprises up his sleeve. His pedigree and race craft too strong. Put him on the team. Watch what happens.
are you drunk? Gwin is a 5 time WC DH overall winner with 20 wins - 2nd most of all time. He's absolutely a top 10...
are you drunk? Gwin is a 5 time WC DH overall winner with 20 wins - 2nd most of all time. He's absolutely a top 10 all time racer.
...that's what I wrote. He's top ten of all time, for sure. Top 5 is probably more accurate. Only reason I didn't write "top 5" is I don't think you can compare the old school guys to the modern era and didn't want to be disrespectful to the old guard. Regardless, Gwin is the pedigree of Minnaar, Peaty, Hill, and Nico. No other American is. Period.
Glad to see he's on the team. Now go shut everyone up and win.
Hey guys, bummer to see all the hate from a few of you but I guess that’s passionate fans in sporting. Here’s the reality. From my...
Hey guys, bummer to see all the hate from a few of you but I guess that’s passionate fans in sporting. Here’s the reality. From my understanding and recent reading of the rules, There is not a rule that says you must petition. A petition just assures that you are considered. The rules basically say that USA cycling will pick, at their discretion, everyone who is not an automatic selection (national champ or top 3 in previous world champs). After that the rules just say that they will basically pick whoever is in the top 50 of the current WC standings in order of their position. (I am the 2nd ranked American in the current World Cup standings) If there’s any spots still available after that then they consider information in the riders petitions and pick the remaining riders based on their sole discretion. That makes sense to me now since I was told last week that I would be considered even though I missed the petition deadline. I was very surprised when I saw the list of athletes selected and after texting my contact at USA cycling to see what was up, the word for word response that I got back was- “Hang tight the media guys had the wrong spreadsheet. We need to fix.” That’s all they gave me until this morning when they called to explain. It is a crapy situation all around and it sucks that I’ve been blamed and sucks even more that the mistake will now kick a rider off of the team it seems. We are all definitely agreeing on that. But, I have not been involved in any way. It also turns out that my original thought/fear of not being selected due to not having my petition wasn’t valid. I’m the 2nd ranked US rider currently and was picked because of that. I normally don’t respond to comments but felt it could be profitable this time. I have offered to help USA cycling in any way that I can moving forward since there has always seemed to be a disconnect between them and gravity racing. They want to improve and hopefully this situation will make things better in the future but I guess time will tell. Thanks guys, peace.
You know it goes out here on the internet man. Every one smashing their keyboards forgetting that people make mistakes. For every jackass in a forum thread there’s 100 people that support you no matter what. ‘Merica.
Gwin imo should of remained out. Hes not going to place well and he had the last almost 15 years to get a rainbow jersey. No...
Gwin imo should of remained out. Hes not going to place well and he had the last almost 15 years to get a rainbow jersey. No disrespect but the jig is up.
I'm willing to give Gwin a few more tries, it took Peaty 15 years to win his world champs. First worlds in '94 and won it in '09. (i'm not sure if '94 was Peaty's first world champs, but thats what is listed on Roots & Rain)
Gwin imo should of remained out. Hes not going to place well and he had the last almost 15 years to get a rainbow jersey. No...
Gwin imo should of remained out. Hes not going to place well and he had the last almost 15 years to get a rainbow jersey. No disrespect but the jig is up.
This is terrible. I can't imagine having your dream seemingly come true, and then having the rug pulled out from under you.
Austin, if you're reading...
This is terrible. I can't imagine having your dream seemingly come true, and then having the rug pulled out from under you.
Austin, if you're reading this, keep your head up. You're only getting faster, and you'll soon be a mainstay on this team.
Regarding Gwin's claims, are they true and did USAC simply accidentally break someone's heart, or is his claim that petitioning isn't necessary untrue?
Also, does USAC have any mechanism that allows them to petition for an additional spot? If so, they owe it to Austin to try that route.
I think the only way to get another spot is when the world champs is the host nation, of which we are not. But then again...
I think the only way to get another spot is when the world champs is the host nation, of which we are not. But then again, I am no USAC/UCI expert.
Or if you are the defending world champ, then your spot doesn’t count. The Brits can have 8 and Italians can have 8 on the men’s teams this year via defending champ and host country.
Oh boy! A good ole' sports debate!!! I love these, because clearly we're going to prove something once-and-for-all!!!
First of all, Gene is right. Gene has...
Oh boy! A good ole' sports debate!!! I love these, because clearly we're going to prove something once-and-for-all!!!
First of all, Gene is right. Gene has also been around this shit than most of you have been alive. (coughs loudly) A little respect for the dude, please (someone post the pict). He knows what he's talking about.
Second, anyone putting any other American DH racer in the same sentence of "best ever" has completely lost their ability to do any kind of math. While Gwin is not the best ever DH racer (top 10 though), he is the best the US has ever had by a long (long) shot.
Look at Gwin's results at the WC level. The only race he's missing from his incredible resume is World Champs. To argue anyone from the US has done what he's done is complete rubbish. Especially in the "modern era" where the competitiveness of the sport ramped up.
Before everyone jumps down my throat, this is not to take anything away from Luca, Dak, Neko and the entire crop of DH racers that are somehow figuring it out (I literally do not understand - no races in the US, no proper tracks - and these dudes keep finding a way). This also isn't to say he's our "best shot at winning" (though I wouldn't want to bet against him). I'd put him in slot 2,3 or 4.
Sure, maybe Gwin did drop the ball, but the fact is, in 2021 you could program an algorithm to accurately select the team that has the best chance of winning. Yet the governing body still is using some esoteric process from when I raced DH (like a lifetime ago).
Oh, and yeah, I looked at results - Gwin has had a fall off since 2019 to now. Bike setup may be to blame, but I really thing its more the "family effect". You see other guys go through this too (Eli Tomac comes to mind). Buy a few houses, get married, your brain fully matures (according to science) and you go "hmmm, maybe I should leave this risk management tool on a bit more as I plummet to possible death".
Anyway, like Tomac, I still think Gwin has a few more surprises up his sleeve. His pedigree and race craft too strong. Put him on the team. Watch what happens.
...that's what I wrote. He's top ten of all time, for sure. Top 5 is probably more accurate. Only reason I didn't write "top 5" is...
...that's what I wrote. He's top ten of all time, for sure. Top 5 is probably more accurate. Only reason I didn't write "top 5" is I don't think you can compare the old school guys to the modern era and didn't want to be disrespectful to the old guard. Regardless, Gwin is the pedigree of Minnaar, Peaty, Hill, and Nico. No other American is. Period.
Glad to see he's on the team. Now go shut everyone up and win.
My literacy needs work and I apologize. That said I have Gwin at #3 all time behind Minnaar and Nico.
The hoops some people will jump thru to be pessimistic negative and just generally shitty. How does Ben Shapiro being on Aaron’s tv have anything to do with this and how is that a way to judge a man’s full political beliefs. I voted for Bernie sanders twice and there are some things I’d agree with Shapiro over sanders on.
Why does every single tiny controversy turn into some crazy conspiracy that the “ evil greedy gwin” is the center of. When every single interview the guy has ever done points to a modest guy who praises hard work and his team at every step. The amount of cognitive dissonance you need to shit on somebody like aaron with a straight face is just ridiculous. I understand rooting for somebody you identify with more but what’s with all the hate. 🤷♂️
Gwin imo should of remained out. Hes not going to place well and he had the last almost 15 years to get a rainbow jersey. No...
Gwin imo should of remained out. Hes not going to place well and he had the last almost 15 years to get a rainbow jersey. No disrespect but the jig is up.
I'm willing to give Gwin a few more tries, it took Peaty 15 years to win his world champs. First worlds in '94 and won it...
I'm willing to give Gwin a few more tries, it took Peaty 15 years to win his world champs. First worlds in '94 and won it in '09. (i'm not sure if '94 was Peaty's first world champs, but thats what is listed on Roots & Rain)
Peaty was 9 times a top 5 worlds rider and 5 times a medalist-so I'd say Peaty's track record as a world championship caliber rider was very well aligned for a win.
@therealaustindooley two words Dual Citizenship. Uzbekistan is always looking for some talent. They'll have you married, knighted, and fresh Da Bomb Bunker Buster 275 carbon custom (is there really any other kind of Da Bomb?) by week's end. Fly that azure, white and green flag proudly.
After reading all this, I only have a couple of comments..
1) My head hurts.
2) Like someone else said, the next Root'd podcast should be great.
3) Show me anything USAC hasn't screwed up.
This situation still burns me up...and i'm old, been around DH racing since the dawn of time, NORBA before USAC ownership was a hillbilly organization, but, they cared about MTB racing and cared about DH (and slalom) but they were short staffed and underfunded and I think back to all the hate we used to throw NORBA (myself included) and certainly feel bad about it when you compare todays era or DH governing body issues.
Its an age old discussion eh? so many articles and podcasts and rants from all of us, but, little is being done to address it...on my part, industry part and governing bodies part. Some more than others are certainly trying to take action and I love those people for it.
I don't know the solutions thats for sure. My wife Leigh was asked to be DH coach for world champs in 2019 and she eagerly took the gig, had a blast working with the riders, and that was a sign to me that "hmm, maybe they do care, a little bit and wanna invest in DH" but, a bigger commitment from USAC seems to be a struggle for DH racing.
I know for our brand (TLD) DH racing and DH equipment is the smaller portion of sales, it's tough to invest in new "DH products" when the numbers pale in comparison to womens and mens trail gear-but, we are invested in the sport, we want to see DH grow and are committed and I do believe product, marketing, know how does trickle down from DH to other categories. Maybe USAC only looks at the numbers and its hard to 'scale the business'.
Anyway, rambling on-good luck to all the boys and girls at world champs, let us not forget Gwin has won Val Di Sol two times and won with some pretty good margins.
Bummed for Austin, he's a great, really fast kid.
Puerto Rico should field a team like they do for Mx des Nations (showing my age there) with him, Cole Suetos & a couple others who were left out but deserve seat time on European races.
I think we can all agree that USAC is a doo doo organization, especially when it comes to their handling of downhill racing.
I can confirm. I really enjoyed going back and forth with them for a week via e-mail just to be allowed to race amateur national champs. You'd have thought I was trying to gain access to the Vatican's secret archives the way they were protecting registration.
The day they finally caved and I spent $500 in entries for XC, enduro, and DH, they announced the disastrous MTB Olympic selections -- I immediately felt awful contributing to such an inept organization.
With the numbers of young riders coming into the sport through NICA and the like, the MTB-side of USAC really needs restructuring. It ain't working.
Hey guys, just wanted to jump on here and say thank you to all who is supporting me throughout this situation! It means a lot to have you guys backing me through it. It was a tough pill to swallow forsure but I know everything will work out in the end. Excited to get on track this weekend in Maribor!
Apologies for the political banter. Not psyched to see Gwin perpetually lit up just because he believes something that might go against the "norm" in bike culture.
Back to the topic at hand, I think this outcome is the right outcome, despite how much of a gut punch it has to be to Austin. His time is coming, clearly. (and I hope he kills it in Maribor!)
Sure would love to see Gwin pull something special out come race day in Italy this year.
I can confirm. I really enjoyed going back and forth with them for a week via e-mail just to be [i]allowed [/i]to race amateur national champs...
I can confirm. I really enjoyed going back and forth with them for a week via e-mail just to be allowed to race amateur national champs. You'd have thought I was trying to gain access to the Vatican's secret archives the way they were protecting registration.
The day they finally caved and I spent $500 in entries for XC, enduro, and DH, they announced the disastrous MTB Olympic selections -- I immediately felt awful contributing to such an inept organization.
With the numbers of young riders coming into the sport through NICA and the like, the MTB-side of USAC really needs restructuring. It ain't working.
USAC is such a poor fit for MTB, especially for gravity-based MTB. Evidently the young DH hooligans were heckling USAC officials at Winter Park this year. Though I don't condone disrespect, I can see where they're coming from.
The USAC officials looked like a bunch of bird watchers and the types of people who probably lobby their city council to tear down dirt jumps.
Apologies for the political banter. Not psyched to see Gwin perpetually lit up just because he believes something that might go against the "norm" in bike...
Apologies for the political banter. Not psyched to see Gwin perpetually lit up just because he believes something that might go against the "norm" in bike culture.
Back to the topic at hand, I think this outcome is the right outcome, despite how much of a gut punch it has to be to Austin. His time is coming, clearly. (and I hope he kills it in Maribor!)
Sure would love to see Gwin pull something special out come race day in Italy this year.
This isn't only a DH thing, y'all heard about the XC olympic drama?
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/woodruff-huck-us-mountain-bike-225122…
Remember those awesome "NORBA hates you " t-shirts?! USA cycling hates everyone, especially downhillers but mtb in general, just like the UCI. Old out of touch men flexing their egos and hurting hard working athletes.
Glad to see he's on the team. Now go shut everyone up and win.
Why does every single tiny controversy turn into some crazy conspiracy that the “ evil greedy gwin” is the center of. When every single interview the guy has ever done points to a modest guy who praises hard work and his team at every step. The amount of cognitive dissonance you need to shit on somebody like aaron with a straight face is just ridiculous. I understand rooting for somebody you identify with more but what’s with all the hate. 🤷♂️
1) My head hurts.
2) Like someone else said, the next Root'd podcast should be great.
3) Show me anything USAC hasn't screwed up.
https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/VitalMTB/Off-the-Bike,3
Its an age old discussion eh? so many articles and podcasts and rants from all of us, but, little is being done to address it...on my part, industry part and governing bodies part. Some more than others are certainly trying to take action and I love those people for it.
I don't know the solutions thats for sure. My wife Leigh was asked to be DH coach for world champs in 2019 and she eagerly took the gig, had a blast working with the riders, and that was a sign to me that "hmm, maybe they do care, a little bit and wanna invest in DH" but, a bigger commitment from USAC seems to be a struggle for DH racing.
I know for our brand (TLD) DH racing and DH equipment is the smaller portion of sales, it's tough to invest in new "DH products" when the numbers pale in comparison to womens and mens trail gear-but, we are invested in the sport, we want to see DH grow and are committed and I do believe product, marketing, know how does trickle down from DH to other categories. Maybe USAC only looks at the numbers and its hard to 'scale the business'.
Anyway, rambling on-good luck to all the boys and girls at world champs, let us not forget Gwin has won Val Di Sol two times and won with some pretty good margins.
Puerto Rico should field a team like they do for Mx des Nations (showing my age there) with him, Cole Suetos & a couple others who were left out but deserve seat time on European races.
The day they finally caved and I spent $500 in entries for XC, enduro, and DH, they announced the disastrous MTB Olympic selections -- I immediately felt awful contributing to such an inept organization.
With the numbers of young riders coming into the sport through NICA and the like, the MTB-side of USAC really needs restructuring. It ain't working.
Back to the topic at hand, I think this outcome is the right outcome, despite how much of a gut punch it has to be to Austin. His time is coming, clearly. (and I hope he kills it in Maribor!)
Sure would love to see Gwin pull something special out come race day in Italy this year.
The USAC officials looked like a bunch of bird watchers and the types of people who probably lobby their city council to tear down dirt jumps.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CSco4O_BzpE/?utm_medium=copy_link
Post a reply to: Gwin not representing US at World Championships? (WTF?)