# Tara Whitten

Tara Alice Whitten (born 13 July 1980) is a Canadian former racing cyclist.

## Career

A former cross-country skier from Edmonton, Alberta, Whitten began track racing seriously in 2008 having dabbled in it since 2005. 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.
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 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. She finished fourth in the omnium.
In March 2016 Whitten was injured in Rio de Janeiro during a visit to inspect the road course for the 2016 Summer Olympics, 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, but she was officially named to Canada's 2016 Olympic team.

## Personal life

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

## Major results
### Track
#### 2008

    National Track Championships
       1st Individual pursuit
       1st Points race
       3rd 500m time trial
       3rd Scratch
    2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
       2nd Individual pursuit, Manchester
       2nd Scratch, Manchester
       3rd Individual pursuit, Cali
       3rd Points race, Cali

#### 2009

    2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali
       1st Team pursuit
       2nd Individual pursuit
       2nd Points race
    2nd Omnium, UCI Track Cycling World Championships
    2nd Individual pursuit, 2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Copenhagen

#### 2010

    UCI Track Cycling World Championships
       1st Omnium
       1st Points race
    Omnium, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
       2nd Melbourne
       2nd Cali
    Commonwealth Games
       3rd Individual pursuit
       3rd Points race
       3rd Team sprint
    2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Beijing
       3rd Individual pursuit
       3rd Team pursuit

#### 2011

    1st Omnium, UCI Track Cycling World Championships
    1st Overall, Omnium, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Ranking
    2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Beijing
       1st Omnium
       2nd Team pursuit
    2nd Omnium, 2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Cali

#### 2012

    2nd Team pursuit, 2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, London
    3rd Team pursuit, Summer Olympics
    3rd Team pursuit, UCI Track Cycling World Championships

### Road
#### 2009

    1st Time trial, National Road Championships
    8th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships

#### 2010

    Commonwealth Games
       1st Time trial
       7th Road race
    National Road Championships
       2nd Road race
       3rd Time trial
    6th Chrono Gatineau
    7th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    9th Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau

#### 2011

    2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
    4th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
    6th Chrono Champenois

#### 2012

    4th Chrono Gatineau

#### 2015

    2nd Time trial, Pan American Road Championships
    8th Overall Joe Martin Stage Race
    8th Chrono Gatineau

#### 2016

    1st Time trial, National Road Championships
    1st Overall Cascade Cycling Classic
       1st Mountains classification
       1st Stages 2 (ITT) & 5
    2nd Chrono Gatineau
    7th Time trial, Summer Olympics