The Great Wall as Olympic Venue

(ATR) An Olympic event had never gone to one of the wonders of the world. That changed when cyclists made three treks up the steep inclines of the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall, meandering 4,000 miles and originally designed to keep Mongolians out of China, served as the venue for cycling time trials, and the finish line in the men’s and women’s road race.

A temporary venue was erected at the Juyongguan Pass section of the wall where mists shrouded the course Wednesday, obstructing the scenic backdrop of the Great Wall and surrounding mountain sides.

Riders realized the uniqueness of the course and lamented the unfortunate lack of a view.

"It's certainly a special course," U.S. men's rider Levi Leipheimer said before the race earlier in the week. "Wish we could see more of it."

Leipheimer had little to complain about at the end of the day however. He won a bronze medal in the time trial, behind Gustav Larsson of Sweden and gold medalist Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.

Forty men from 27 countries and 25 women from 24 countries , raced in the individual time trial race taking the same 24km looping course. The men made two laps of the course that started and finished at the Juyongguan Pass, and wound its way up to Badaling, while the women made only one lap.

Despite pre-Olympic concerns that the air pollution in Beijing and surrounding areas would adversely impact endurance athletes—specifically cyclists—there were no reports of illnesses or withdrawals due to bad air.

BOCOG did not allow spectators to line the streets for the road race—a security measure organizers said—but on Wednesday fans happily stood next to the time trial course.

The time trial was the last road cycling event of the Beijing Olympics. However, it is not the final cycling event of the Games. Track cycling at the Laoshan Velodrome begins on Friday.

Written by Ed Hula III.