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. 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,

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

3rd 500m time trial 3rd Scratch 2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics

2009 2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali

2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships

Omnium, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics

Commonwealth Games

2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Beijing

2011

1st Overall, Omnium, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Ranking 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Beijing

2012

Road

2009

8th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships 2010 Commonwealth Games

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

8th Overall Joe Martin Stage Race 8th Chrono Gatineau 2016

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