Tara Whitten

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
References
External links
1980 births
Living people
Canadian female cyclists
Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic cyclists for Canada
Olympic medalists in cycling
Olympic bronze medalists for Canada
Cyclists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Cyclists from Alberta
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Edmonton
UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women)
Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Canada
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Canada
Canadian track cyclists
Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games