Tara Whitten

Tara Whitten

Personal information
Full name	Tara Alice Whitten
Born	13 July 1980
Team information
Discipline	Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Endurance
Medal record Representing  Canada Track cycling Summer Olympics 2012 London Team pursuit World Championship 2010 Ballerup Omnium 2010 Ballerup Points Race 2011 Apeldoorn Omnium 2009 Pruszków Omnium 2012 Melbourne Team pursuit Pan American Road and Track Championships 2009 Mexico Omnium 2009 Mexico Individual pursuit 2009 Mexico Team sprint 2015 Puebla Individual time trial 2009 Mexico Individual time trial 2009 Mexico Points race 2009 Mexico Team pursuit
Infobox last updated on 5 April 2012

Tara Alice Whitten (born 13 July 1980) is a Canadian track racing cyclist from Edmonton.^[1]

Career

A former cross country skier, she began track racing seriously in 2008 having dabbled in it since 2005.^[2] The same year she won the points race and individual pursuit at the Canadian National Track Championships, and also took the bronze medal in the scratch race and 500 meter time trial events.

Whitten began the 2008–2009 track cycling season strongly, winning two silver medals at first round of the Track World Cup in Manchester, United Kingdom, in October. She went on to take two bronze medals in the third round in Cali, Colombia, and a further two silver medals in the fifth and final round in Copenhagen, Denmark, in February 2009.

In March 2009, Whitten won the silver medal in the Omnium at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Pruszków, the first time the event was included in the championships.^[2]

In December 2009, Whitten rode on the team that won the gold medal in the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics Women's Team Pursuit in Cali, Colombia, along with fellow Canadian National Team members Laura Brown (cyclist) and Stephanie Roorda, concurrently setting a new Canadian National Record in this event as well with a time of 3:27.289. Of note, the Women's Team Pursuit has been added as an Olympic event for 2012. She also won two silver medals, in the Individual Pursuit (time of 3:34.547) and Points Race.

In March 2010, Whitten won the gold medal in the Omnium and Points race at the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Ballerup.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was part of the Canadian team that won the bronze medal in the women's team pursuit.^[3] She finished fourth in the omnium.^[4][5]

In March 2016 Whitten was injured in Rio de Janeiro during a visit to inspect the road course for the 2016 Summer Games, running her bike into the back of a bus and being knocked unconscious and breaking a bone in the base of her skull. The interruption to her training delayed her qualifying for the Olympics; she is awaiting a decision from Cycling Canada as to whether her result in a June UCI race in Quebec has earned her a spot on the Canadian Olympic team.^[5]

Whitten was awarded a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Alberta on June 10, 2016, having first earned a science degree in 2006 and been accepted into a electrophysiology lab as a master’s student in 2007, while taking periodic breaks from her studies to focus on cycling full-time. She will begin a post-doctoral fellowship in concussion research at the University of Calgary in fall 2016.^[5]

In 2016, she was officially named to Canada's 2016 Olympic team.^[6]

Palmarès

2008

1st Points Race, Canadian National Track Championships

1st Individual Pursuit, Canadian National Track Championships

3rd Scratch Race, Canadian National Track Championships

3rd 500 m TT, Canadian National Track Championships

2nd Individual Pursuit, Round 1, 2008–2009 Track World Cup, Manchester

2nd Scratch Race, Round 1, 2008–2009 Track World Cup, Manchester

3rd Individual Pursuit, Round 3, 2008–2009 Track World Cup, Cali

3rd Points Race, Round 3, 2008–2009 Track World Cup, Cali

2009

2nd Individual Pursuit, Round 5, 2008–2009 Track World Cup, Copenhagen

2nd Omnium, Track World Championships

1st Team Pursuit, 2009–2010 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali

2nd Individual Pursuit, 2009–2010 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali

2nd Points Race, 2009–2010 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali

2010

1st Omnium, Track World Championships

1st Points Race, Track World Championships

3rd Points Race, Commonwealth Games

3rd Individual Pursuit Commonwealth Games

3rd Team Sprint Commonwealth Games

1st Time Trial (Road) Commonwealth Games

2011

1st Omnium, Track World Championships

2nd Omnium (Track) 2011 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Tour, Melbourne, AUS

1st Omnium, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Ranking

2012

2nd Team Pursuit, 2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in London

3rd Team Pursuit, Track World Championships

3rd Team Pursuit, 2012 Summer Olympics

2015

2nd Pan American Time Trial Championships

References

1. Tara Whitten profile at Cycling Archives
2. "Track World Championships - Silver Medal for Tara Whitten". Canadian Cycling Association. 28 March 2009.
3. "London 2012 - Track Cycling - Women's Team Pursuit". www.olympic.org. IOC. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
4. "London 2012 - Track Cycling - Omnium Women". www.olympic.org. IOC. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
5. Brown, Michael (June 13, 2016). "There and back again: from the Olympic podium to the convocation stage". University of Alberta: News & Events. University of Alberta. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
6. Tozer, Jamie (29 June 2016). "Returning Olympians highlight Canada's cycling team". www.olympic.ca. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 29 June 2016.