RIO DE JANEIRO – The e-mails come in frequently, tipping off USA Cycling to new talent. Sarah Hammer remembered her coach receiving one such message about Kelly Catlin, suggesting the Arden Hills native might be good on the track.
"People say that about a lot of riders,'' said Hammer, the veteran of the U.S. women's team pursuit group. "But the first day Kelly came to a camp, we were like, 'Wow. This girl is good.' She had no fear, and she was incredibly strong. People were looking at each other and saying, 'This is a winner.' ''
Hammer hopes they're saying the same thing Saturday, when she and Catlin — along with Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente — chase an Olympic gold medal in team pursuit. The defending world champions, the Americans qualified with the second-fastest time, behind the world record set Thursday by Great Britain. They will square off against Australia in the first round at 9:17 a.m. Saturday; Great Britain will race Canada.
The winners will compete for the gold medal at 2:53 p.m. Saturday. The United States is the favorite after winning the country's first world championship in a team event, but all four countries are capable. The Brits, the U.S. and Canada were on the Olympic podium in 2012.
Hammer, 32, is the only holdover from the silver medal team in London. The current group formed about a year ago, surrounding her with young talent eager to move the U.S. up to gold. Tough, strong and fearless, they covered the 4,000-meter distance in 4 minutes, 14.286 seconds, behind Britain's world record of 4:13.260.
"That got the nerves out for everybody,'' Hammer said. "We're at the Olympic Games. It's really exciting for all the girls.
"[The record] is what was expected. It's going to be even faster (in the finals).''
The U.S. team is hoping to get an assist from a new bike. After the silver at the London Games, USA Cycling teamed up with Felt Bicycles to study how to redesign the bike to make it even faster.
They put the drive train on the left, rather than on the right, which made it more aerodynamic and improved handling. The frame was designed for maximum speed on banked turns.
The bikes may have contributed to the Americans' swift pace in qualifying, but the young riders provided the real power. Hammer said Catlin is a "student of cycling'' who can handle both the grind and the technical intricacies of team pursuit. The group's sole aim for the past year has been winning gold in Rio, and after challenging Britain's world-record pace in the preliminaries, they said they are ready to push themselves farther.
"It went well,'' Dygert said of the preliminaries. "We're proud of it. Let's see if we can go faster on Saturday. We'll be ready to go faster.''
