Track cycling omitted from Durban’s 2022 Commonwealth Games bid

Track cycling would be omitted from the 2022 Commonwealth Games if Durban’s bid is successful.

The South African city does not have an existing velodrome and the cost of building a suitable venue is thought to be behind the sport’s omission.

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While road cycling and mountain biking are set to remain on the schedule, but it would be the first time track cycling wouldn’t feature since 1934.

South Africa failed to win a single medal in the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow last year, with their only cycling medal coming through Ashleigh Moolman Pasio’s bronze in the women’s road race.

Australia and England have traditionally dominated the track cycling at the Games, with the Australians topping the table with 24 medals in Glasgow, including seven golds.

As insidethegames reports, the Commonwealth Games programme consists of 10 core sports – athletics, badminton, men’s boxing, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, men’s rugby sevens, squash, swimming and weightlifting – with each host selecting up to seven others of their choice.

Australia’s Gold Coast will host the Games in 2018, with the existing outdoor Chandler Velodrome being demolished and replaced with a new enclosed 250m track.