Travis Brown — athlete
Tinker Juarez — athlete
Ann Trombley — athlete
Ruthie Matthes — athlete
Stephane Girard — 2000 Olympic Mountain Bike Coach

Quintero: Let me reiterate the official team again. On the men's side; Tinker Juarez (Downey, CA, '96 Olympics Mountain Biking), Travis Brown (Boulder, CO). On the women's team; Alison Dunlap (Colorado Springs, CO), Ruthie Matthes (Durango, CO), and Ann Trombley (Golden, CO). Stephane, let them know what the difficulties of the selection process, any challenges you faced, and what you see the potential of the team that you have selected.

Girard: We set up some standards for automatic qualifications. Riders who qualified in the World Championships or World Cups would be automatically qualified to the team, which was pretty tough to get, and Alison did it. For the other athletes, they are pretty close...Ruthie almost did it. Especially Ruthie and Ann, but then we had to go with what we call the coach's selection, and we picked these other athletes based on their World Cup results for this year. So, we basically took the athletes that had the best results this year. Which for the men were Travis and Tinker, for the women were Ruthie and Ann.

Quintero: How do you expect the team to perform?

Girard: Well, on the women's team I think we have a very strong team. The course, I believe, is pretty good for these riders. It is a technical course. It has a lot of short and steep climbs. I'm expecting the athletes to do very well on this course. The big thing about this race is that it is going to be a very strategic race, so it is going to be very important to be in the front and get an opportunity to be part of the group. I think that we can hope for a medal with the women riders. For the guys, it is definitely going to be a little harder, but I don't doubt that these guys are going to be very motivated in the race. Who knows, the guys may have some great results too.

Quintero: Why don't we go ahead and open up the questions period. If I could ask you to please introduce yourself before you address the athletes or Stephane, so go ahead.

Tim Korte, Associated Press: Stephane, why not Steve Larsen? What came into the final selection on the men's side? Can you go into some detail on that?

Girard: Pretty much what happened is that obviously Travis was the easiest choice to make because he got a pretty bad injury when he broke his leg in Mexico. So, coming back from that he showed some pretty encouraging results from the last World Cup, and it was obvious that he was back up to some great fitness. Then the decision between Steve and Tinker obviously. Steve was riding really strong the past two or three weeks, but he didn't get really good results, some mechanicals and things like that. So, on paper, it made more sense to take Tinker because he was the one that had the best results. He got tenth place in Mexico, and also he performed pretty well last year on the Olympic course with a 14th place.

Korte: Did Tinker's experience with the '96 Games come into factor?

Girard: Yeah, I think for the Olympic Games every four years...I don't know that it's not a big thing to get that experience for the Olympic Games. The World Cup experience and World Championship experience, I think, is the key.

Kip Mikler, VeloNews: As you said, Larsen didn't have the results Tinker did when it came down to that last race. Do you think it would have been a different story in those last two World Cups if Larsen didn't have mechanical problems?

Girard: Maybe. It's pretty hard to redo the race after it is done, but let's say Steve would have gotten a great performance at the last race, and the way he was riding, it is possible that he could have made the team.

Girard: Yeah, it definitely was pretty bad because based on this World Cup season and all of the races we have been to, Steve and Tinker were in a tie, so it was pretty hard to make a decision.

Mikler: The last couple of World Cup rounds, there have been some riders missing. Travis's 20th place was the best that there was, and it wasn't a super solid international result. Really, the ones that stood out were Tinker's tenth in Mexico. What about Greg Randolph's 17th place at World Championships? Was he a part of the factor?

Girard: Yeah, Greg was probably in a good position to make the team officially. The bad thing for Greg is that he just got one big performance in an international ride this year. World Championships was definitely a great finish. He was down to the back of the field and worked his way up to 17th place. So I would say it was a big performance he did there, but in order to put him on the team, we would have needed more performances like that because it was pretty hard to justify with just one result of the year. So he was on the list, and he's the second alternate for the Olympic team.

Mark Condron, NBCOlympics.com: Tinker, can you comment on making the team and getting the chance to go back to the Olympic Games?

Lori Shontz, Pittsburgh Post Gazette: When did the stress kick in? Was it just race day or were you worried about it ahead of time?

Juarez: I was pretty much thinking about it all week. Canmore (Alberta, Canada) was a really hard race for me because in the beginning I was concerned about the weather. If the weather would have been wet and muddy, it was a course that would take a lot of running and cyclo-cross skills that I don't have and never will have. I raced there last year and I just had the worst experience running in all the technical sections. It was just really hard for me to stay on my bike. I arrived on Tuesday and it was rainy and cold and I would see a little bit of snow on the top of the mountains, and I was like 'Oh my goodness.' So I was really worried about the weather. I was watching the news every day, morning 'till night. So I was praying for just one day to have sunshine. I rode the course on Wednesday, the track was in perfect shape, and I was really psyched. Then it rained, and I thought the track was going to be all mucky and not fun to ride. But it dried up really good, and I enjoyed riding the course. I'm just thankful that I had a good day, because if it would have been a muddy course, I know that I would have had a really hard time. I wouldn't have counted myself out, but realistically, I knew it would have been hard to beat Steve because he's a much better runner than me. I just know that he does better than me in muddy races where you have to run.

Korte: We were just talking with Stephane about the selection. Do you think your experience in the Atlanta Games was an intangible that may have helped you here? Do you think it will make a difference when you go down to Sydney?

Juarez: It was a great feeling to be in Atlanta, and it was good motivation to stay focused for this Olympics. I don't know if it really helped me, I still needed to have a good season this year. It started off really well, then I hit a low spot in the middle for the season, and I started feeling a little bit tired. I felt like maybe if every American started and did every race I did, then it would be a fair race going into the last race, but a lot of them started late or either got to miss a few races. I just stuck in there and did every race, but then it was hard for me to keep that motivation high. When I started seeing American pop in a good result, people would say he had a good chance of making the team, and it started getting me upset because I started in Sea Otter and went through the whole travelling schedule, and it's starting to wear on me. I'm just glad I made the team because it was a really hard thing to go through all of the races and bounce back every time something wasn't going good.

Paula Parrish, Colorado Springs Gazette: Tinker, how difficult was it waiting for the announcement?

Juarez: It was probably as difficult as finishing the Canmore race. When I came home I wasn't thinking positive. I was thinking I should go, but I knew if I got too confident I might not get the answer I wanted to get. It was hard to know for sure. The last Tuesday and Wednesday were the hardest days to get on my bike, because I was at the point where I didn't know for sure. I was even thinking about racing Saturday in Colorado at the Red Zinger. I was really fired up all season, but when I came home, all of a sudden, I started thinking about it. Then I didn't even know if I was going, and it's hard to block that out of you. I decided to hang up that race and just wait for the answer and then go from there.

Parrish: When did you get the answer and what was your reaction?

Juarez: It was like winning the biggest race of your life. It's the greatest feeling. You work all four years. I never thought I could be sitting here thinking that I could be going to the Olympics, but here I am going again. I learned so much from the last one about the pressure, and now I'm going to go into this race much more relaxed because it is in Sydney, and not here in the U.S. I felt like the trials I went through, and the selection, was much harder than anything. I just handled it the wrong way. I didn't want to go into the last race thinking that it was all up to the last race. I wanted to go into the last race and just have a decent race, not having to go in and be the top American again. But that's what the sport's all about. You never know until it's all over with.

John Rezell, Bike.com: Travis, Tinker is talking about stress, but what has it been for you to try and battle back from an injury to qualify for the team?

Quintero: First, could you explain your injury, and then go on with your answer?

Brown: In the World Cup race in Mazatlan I crashed into a tree and fractured my tibia. It was a tibial plateau fracture that required surgery and hardware to put everything back together. I think most of my stress, and the whole qualifying procedure, was probably that week because I was planning the whole season around the Olympics, and qualifying. Fortunately, I was already on the long team, which was one less stress. The time I got the injury, it was a couple of weeks before I knew what the injury was like, or what the recovery/rehab period was going to be like, or if there was tendon damage. After the surgery, everything that happened was the best-case scenario. I was pretty stressed right after it happened, but emotionally I went through that all real early. Since I started in rehab and got back on my bike, everything has been a bonus. There was no ligament or tendon damage; it was just the bone. The surgeons were really concerned with that. The surgery went well. It was very clean, and I was able to get back soft-pedaling sooner than the surgeons expected. I was able to get on the bike and outside sooner than I expected. So, I was coming from a place where I didn't think there was any chance I could go to the Olympics, so each subsequent surprise in the healing process, and racing, was just inspiring to me. I think I have less pressure on myself, which helped. There were no expectations of making the team after I broke my leg. Looking back on it, I think it was good that I didn't have to worry about those expectations, and I could just concentrate on getting healthy and racing again.

Jeff Stegeman, The Durango Herald: Are you feeling 100 percent, or are there still lingering effects from the injury?

Brown: I'm definitely not 100 percent yet. There are still some substantial muscle imbalances between my legs and the bone has not totally healed, but it's all bolted together. It's fine as long as I stay on my bike. I'm just getting to where I can do a little bit of hiking and some stuff off my bike to strengthen it. At this point I'm just really happy I can take a breath, now that I have been selected to the team, and really start over building my form from the starting point where I have two good legs. I really had to push things to get those last two World Cup races in and get a good result. It's really good for me to be able to start over now from a more healthy base.

Shontz: Travis, how long after the surgery were you able to get back doing anything, and when were you able to get back on your bike, what kind of time frame?

Brown: The night after the surgery, they had my leg in an articulator that moved it 50°, so that I could start getting my ROM back. I was supposed to lay off for 10 days and not do anything. During that time, I started peddling a bike with my good leg, and I'd put my other one on a chair. I just wanted to maintain a little less fitness. My left leg was atrophying a lot, and I couldn't do anything to maintain the fitness. I started peddling with my good leg, so after I had ROM in the other leg I put a very short crank on the stationary bike, and I would start turning circles with that. That process really started to get some circulation through the injury that isn't very common with people recovering from that. That was a big part of healing so fast. When I got a little more ROM, I put on a little longer crank, and, within two weeks of surgery, I had enough range of muscle that I could turn my full-length crank over. Even though I couldn't exert much pressure on the pedals at that point, it was a really exhilarating recovery. Within the third week I was able to, indoors, start pushing hard with that leg. Then it was about four or five weeks to when I could try riding outside. I could actually ride my bike long before I could walk. I was still on crutches, and my girlfriend would help me onto my bike and push me out of the driveway. As long as I was rolling, I was fine, but then I had to hold onto something when I came back.

Shontz: How did you stop?

Brown: My girlfriend would either grab me or I would hold onto the garage and scream into the house. I think my surgeon and doctor were really liberal in letting me push my recovery and rehab. Fortunately, I just stayed right below the limit and didn't push over it and wasn't set back.

Shontz: What day was the surgery?

Brown: It was five days after the race, so April seventh.

Korte: Somebody asked you earlier how close you were to 100%. Do you project you will be there by Sydney?

Brown: There's definitely enough time for me to be 100% by Sydney, especially looking at how I have been able to recover. Like Tinker said, he did all of those races and now he's tired from them. I've only done about half, and I hope to be fresher than I would have been. I know I am more motivated and focused. Injuries like that have a tendency to force you to re-evaluate your life and what's important. It helps you to get your life back into perspective.

Parrish: What type of hardware did they put in your leg?

Brown: Well, my leg hyper-extended below my knee, and none of my ligaments were injured, however, something had to give. My femur pushed the top of my tibia off. So, a portion of my tibia was crushed, and the surgeon had to push up until it would flush. Then, another large piece the size of a wallet was broken off and displaced. They reattached that with two screws. Those screws are still in my leg. They will take them out at some point when the season is over, about ten months. I will have to be prepared to not race for several weeks after that. So, after the season, I will go back and see if they think that they are ready to take those screws out.

Parrish: And you said that was your left leg, right?

Brown: Right.

Parrish: Has making the Olympic team been a dream of yours since it became an Olympic sport?

Brown: Absolutely. I had some bad luck at the last Olympic Games at qualifying, where I broke my collarbone. Tinker had his spot totally sewn up at that point. I was in his shoes where I was in the running with a couple of the other athletes. I thought my chances were good, but I didn't get to go. I've had dreams of going to the Olympics even before I was a bike racer, when I was ski racing. It didn't seem like it was going to pan out in that. But when mountain biking became an Olympic sport, I think that was probably a dream for every motivated mountain bike racer.

Parrish: Travis, when you got hurt again this time did you think it was '96 all over again?

Brown: I sure did. But, now, looking back on it, and how injuries like that force you to reevaluate your life and get things back into perspective, it turned out that I was able to recover quickly. In the big picture of my life, it ends up being a good experience. There was a week there that I was in the basement as far as morale goes, and what it means that the only two injuries in my career happened in an Olympic year. But, it all worked out.

Jason Sumner, Boulder Daily Camera: Travis and Tinker, I have been told you are both racing in the Red Zinger tomorrow, and, as mountain bikers, I was wondering how you think you might fare since it is more of a road race than a mountain bike race?

Brown: Neither of us are going to race.

Sumner: Why?

Brown: It's not part of my focus for the Olympic games.

Juarez: For me, I was just waiting to make the Olympic team. It just came up too quick, and the race would have been on a Sunday, and I thought that making the team I would have had different thoughts. But, there's always next year.

Quintero: Do we have some questions for the women?

Sumner: Could we get Ann's reaction on making the Olympic team?

Korte: Ann, the women's team looks very loaded. Do you think one or more of you will make it onto the podium?

Trombley: Yeah, I think we have a very good chance. Alison has been riding very well, and Ruthie and myself have picked it up. Ruthie has just picked it up in the last races. I also think that we women work well together as a team.

Quintero: Ann, your path toward the Olympics has been a lot different than Alison and Ruthie's. You didn't always have the full support of a team, and you weren't always able to devote your full time to training. Maybe you could talk about that and how that drove you to your goal?

Trombley: I have been a pro for six years, and I have worked five out of the six. This year was the first year I haven't worked. It's been a tough year to know if I should keep going with the racing. I've gotten better each year, so that's helped me to keep going. I never have gotten good sponsorship as far as money-wise, I've never gotten a salary from racing. That has actually motivated me to work harder, to show people that it can be done without having money as a motivating factor. I think that has helped me to get to the Olympics because I wanted to show people that I could do it without having a lot of help. I work as a physical therapist in the off-season. I finally worked it out with my boss that we were going to take me off of the payroll until I found out if I was going to the Olympics, and then come back and work after the Olympics were over with. So, they've been really helpful. My job as a physical therapist has helped me as well because it's in tune with the body, and that's what racing is all about.

Korte: Ann, are you making money now or do you have a good savings account or what?

Ann: I actually made money by my winning. The team we have now actually helps pay for travel expenses and places to stay. But as far as bills go I have to do well in the races to make money. Some of my sponsors help with bonuses, so if I do well, or just by showing up at the races, I will get a bonus for that. It's just been difficult to pay the bills, but that's how I've done it.

Quintero: Ruthie, I don't know if everyone knows how close you were in '96, so could you talk about that and how this year has been a redemption for you.

Matthes: Yeah, '96 was a pretty tough year. We had an extremely strong group of American women; there were four of us vying for two spots. Juli Furtado had pretty much sewn up her spot just like Tinker had. They had just ridden incredible qualifying races for a year-and-a-half. So, there were three of us and one spot. It came down to the last race. I did not have my best day that day. It was a huge disappointment not to make the team, but I've turned that around and made it a positive. I am here racing at the Olympics in 2000. There was a lot of motivation after '96 to stay with racing and to reach another level of riding for myself. The sport has grown, the depth of women has grown, and it is really great to finally be here. I don't think that it's really sunk in yet.