Sarah Storey, who was tipped to become Britain's first Paralympic and Olympic athlete after helping Britain to win gold at last week’s World Cup event in Colombia, will not be part of the Olympic squad after being dropped from the women's team pursuit team.
"I was told my performance in Cali was not as good as they were looking for," Storey said. "So this is the end of the journey for me with the GB pursuit team.
“I have always said that London 2012 is about riding as many events as I am good enough for and so now it is important for me to concentrate on the other events I have at the Games”
Storey, who was born without a left hand, made her cycling debut for Great Britain at the Manchester leg of the World Cup in February, helping the team break the British record along the way. She already has five swimming gold medals and two in cycling at the Paralympics, and teamed up with Laura Trott and Wendy Houvenaghel to win at the World Championships.
Trott and Houvenaghel, along with Dani King, were victorious at the World Championship in March, and GB Cycling have been trying out possible combinations in the build-up to next summer's Olympic Games. But with Houvenaghel, Trott, King and Joanna Rowsell also battling for the three team pursuit places, GB Cycling has decided to narrow the field going into 2012 by dropping Storey.
"Selection for the Paralympic Games will be made on 20 June, so my priorities don't really change a great deal as I have to concentrate on trying to get selected for and defend the two gold medals I won in Beijing” Storey said, “I always said the team pursuit was another opportunity to become the best athlete I could be and it would be a bonus if I was able to make the event work alongside the events in which I am paracycling world champion.
"As with any team event the squad has to work to get the fastest three riders on the start line in the Olympic final and in the eyes of the selectors I am not able to contribute to this process any longer."
