Andreu
04-24-2004, 03:41 PM
Found this on BCF (British cycling) website (How the hell did he lose 30 lbs?):
Olympic Champion, Marty Nothstein Interview
The Manchester World Cup kicked off with a press conference attended by Chris Hoy, Craig Maclean, Marty Nothstein and Franco Marvulli plus Great Britain consultant Chris Boardman. With Sports Director Ken Farnes asking questions, the riders spoke to press assembled including TV and written and then after the conferece was finished, I caught up with the only rider of the four I hadn't spoken to, Marty Nothstein, Olympic Sprint champion from the USA who is on a flying visit to the UK.
Marty, who spent much of the winter racing six day races, was looking a lot leaner than he had at the Sydney Olympics. Asked if that was the case, he replied "I've lost close to 30 pounds since the Games in 2000. The reason for the switch was because after the Olympics, I didn't feel there was anything else I really needed to accomplish in the World of Sprint Cycling. At that point, I had been World Champion a couple of times, Olympic silver medalist in '96, and got the top spot in 2000. I worked so hard for it, and achieved it, it was time to step off the sprinting game, and pursue another option."
At that point I still loved racing my bike, and still do to this day, pinning on a number and putting on a helmet, it's what I live for." When I mentioned the name Sercu as a name who has come from the sprint and gone to the road, Marty replied "no-one's done it recently and that was another motivating factor because there were a lot of people who said you couldn't, you're not going to be able to do the six days, you won't be able to make the transition to the road, and now its proven."
"I've won some big races on the road, and am a regular on the six day circuit and ride well there so I feel I have proved to everybody I could do it, and a lot of that is down to the fact that when I was a younger rider, I started on the road. I wasn't built as a sprinter, I wasn't groomed as a sprinter -- I just liked sprinting and gravitated towards that. In my earlier years as a junior, I was a road rider."
Asked about the six day circuit, Marty explained that "its a very tough living. You race seven or eight six days a year, and these are races that are incredibly hard, incredibly fast. Long hours as I am sure you are aware of and its not the best working conditions. Its a hard way of life and it does make you tired. It's only April and I feel like I have been racing for 12 months non stop so its tough to recover from the six day circuit."
Asked about goals for this year, Marty said "I'm taking one step at a time. Our Federation really doesn't have concrete footing on who is going to go and how they are going to get there. I am kinda forced to race at the World Cups instead of preparing for the Olympics which I would like to do. I don't even know if I'll be there at this point which is unfortunate, because I want to go and win it, but at the same time, I want to go and prepare for it and get ready for it, not only physically, but mentally and this isn't the way to do it. To be going to a World Cup every few weeks, juggling road racing, and everything else with it."
"Its going to be a challenging year."
Asked what he will be doing at Manchester this weekend, Marty says "just the Keirin. I got fourth place in Mexico so that is enough points to have a spot at the World Championships, but I'd like to add to that and try and push myself up in the UCI rankings in the Keirin."
So does Manchester help with gaining experience in the Kierin race, one that can be quite tactical. "My track racing has almost been next to nothing since 2000. Its only really been the six day circuit and racing at Trexletown in Pennsylvania and a few select events here and there. So the tactics are a bit rusty but its coming back quick. I'm definitely not the rider I was in 2000. I just don't have the power and speed I had but at the same time, I couldn't win roads race like I can now."
I then asked in an ideal World, what would he like to do at the Olympics. "In an ideal world, being the rider I am now, the Madison and if there was a Scratch race, that to but unfortunately there isn't one of those."
What about the Points race I queried? "I haven't really dabbled in the Points race all that much but there several people who say I should try it. But again, with the selection procedures in America, its to complicated to even talk about right now." I am here racing the Keirin but I'd be best in the Madison so its frustrating but at the same time I have enjoyed racing on the road with Navigators and coming to Europe and doing some of the races on the road here.Its like starting all over again, the energy on the bike, and I'm excited to be racing."
Asked if it was difficult going fom track to track, Marty answered "They're all oval! They are not shaped like a D or an X and you adapt rather quickly. I've been to all sort of tracks at this point in my career, know how to win on all of them, and the different tracks require different tactics and getting used to but I adapt quickly. I have World championships on a 250 metre indoor and I've won the world championships on a 400 metre outdoor."
So will Marty be at the Worlds in Melbourne? "I can go to the World championships as of now but this is where it gets into a schedule conflict with the road. I'm scheduled to do some road racing at that time, and the federation knows I want to race the Keirin at the Olympic Games, so its up to them to put me on the start list."
"I was supposed to be riding Gent Wevelgem today, but I lucked out of that -- darn! Instead of battling 50kph cross winds I am here so that wasn't hard to swallow although I would like to have ridden it. I'd rather much be riding in an indoor velodrome, than cobbles in Belgium."
"I'll gear up for our road championships in America and we have some big criteriums, with some big money on the line, and of course our national criterium championships which I want to do well in."
Good luck to Marty for 2004 and thanks for his time.
Olympic Champion, Marty Nothstein Interview
The Manchester World Cup kicked off with a press conference attended by Chris Hoy, Craig Maclean, Marty Nothstein and Franco Marvulli plus Great Britain consultant Chris Boardman. With Sports Director Ken Farnes asking questions, the riders spoke to press assembled including TV and written and then after the conferece was finished, I caught up with the only rider of the four I hadn't spoken to, Marty Nothstein, Olympic Sprint champion from the USA who is on a flying visit to the UK.
Marty, who spent much of the winter racing six day races, was looking a lot leaner than he had at the Sydney Olympics. Asked if that was the case, he replied "I've lost close to 30 pounds since the Games in 2000. The reason for the switch was because after the Olympics, I didn't feel there was anything else I really needed to accomplish in the World of Sprint Cycling. At that point, I had been World Champion a couple of times, Olympic silver medalist in '96, and got the top spot in 2000. I worked so hard for it, and achieved it, it was time to step off the sprinting game, and pursue another option."
At that point I still loved racing my bike, and still do to this day, pinning on a number and putting on a helmet, it's what I live for." When I mentioned the name Sercu as a name who has come from the sprint and gone to the road, Marty replied "no-one's done it recently and that was another motivating factor because there were a lot of people who said you couldn't, you're not going to be able to do the six days, you won't be able to make the transition to the road, and now its proven."
"I've won some big races on the road, and am a regular on the six day circuit and ride well there so I feel I have proved to everybody I could do it, and a lot of that is down to the fact that when I was a younger rider, I started on the road. I wasn't built as a sprinter, I wasn't groomed as a sprinter -- I just liked sprinting and gravitated towards that. In my earlier years as a junior, I was a road rider."
Asked about the six day circuit, Marty explained that "its a very tough living. You race seven or eight six days a year, and these are races that are incredibly hard, incredibly fast. Long hours as I am sure you are aware of and its not the best working conditions. Its a hard way of life and it does make you tired. It's only April and I feel like I have been racing for 12 months non stop so its tough to recover from the six day circuit."
Asked about goals for this year, Marty said "I'm taking one step at a time. Our Federation really doesn't have concrete footing on who is going to go and how they are going to get there. I am kinda forced to race at the World Cups instead of preparing for the Olympics which I would like to do. I don't even know if I'll be there at this point which is unfortunate, because I want to go and win it, but at the same time, I want to go and prepare for it and get ready for it, not only physically, but mentally and this isn't the way to do it. To be going to a World Cup every few weeks, juggling road racing, and everything else with it."
"Its going to be a challenging year."
Asked what he will be doing at Manchester this weekend, Marty says "just the Keirin. I got fourth place in Mexico so that is enough points to have a spot at the World Championships, but I'd like to add to that and try and push myself up in the UCI rankings in the Keirin."
So does Manchester help with gaining experience in the Kierin race, one that can be quite tactical. "My track racing has almost been next to nothing since 2000. Its only really been the six day circuit and racing at Trexletown in Pennsylvania and a few select events here and there. So the tactics are a bit rusty but its coming back quick. I'm definitely not the rider I was in 2000. I just don't have the power and speed I had but at the same time, I couldn't win roads race like I can now."
I then asked in an ideal World, what would he like to do at the Olympics. "In an ideal world, being the rider I am now, the Madison and if there was a Scratch race, that to but unfortunately there isn't one of those."
What about the Points race I queried? "I haven't really dabbled in the Points race all that much but there several people who say I should try it. But again, with the selection procedures in America, its to complicated to even talk about right now." I am here racing the Keirin but I'd be best in the Madison so its frustrating but at the same time I have enjoyed racing on the road with Navigators and coming to Europe and doing some of the races on the road here.Its like starting all over again, the energy on the bike, and I'm excited to be racing."
Asked if it was difficult going fom track to track, Marty answered "They're all oval! They are not shaped like a D or an X and you adapt rather quickly. I've been to all sort of tracks at this point in my career, know how to win on all of them, and the different tracks require different tactics and getting used to but I adapt quickly. I have World championships on a 250 metre indoor and I've won the world championships on a 400 metre outdoor."
So will Marty be at the Worlds in Melbourne? "I can go to the World championships as of now but this is where it gets into a schedule conflict with the road. I'm scheduled to do some road racing at that time, and the federation knows I want to race the Keirin at the Olympic Games, so its up to them to put me on the start list."
"I was supposed to be riding Gent Wevelgem today, but I lucked out of that -- darn! Instead of battling 50kph cross winds I am here so that wasn't hard to swallow although I would like to have ridden it. I'd rather much be riding in an indoor velodrome, than cobbles in Belgium."
"I'll gear up for our road championships in America and we have some big criteriums, with some big money on the line, and of course our national criterium championships which I want to do well in."
Good luck to Marty for 2004 and thanks for his time.