Editing Track cycling (section)

== Gender in track cycling ==
Women's track cycling was only introduced as an Olympic sport in 1988, and women were not permitted to compete in the same number of events as men until 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stillmed.olympic.org/AssetsDocs/OSC%20Section/pdf/QR_sports_summer/Sports_olympiques_cyclisme_sur_piste_eng.pdf|title=CYCLING: History of Cycling Track at the Olympic Games|date=March 2015|website=Olympic Studies Centre|access-date=5 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926125930/https://stillmed.olympic.org/AssetsDocs/OSC%20Section/pdf/QR_sports_summer/Sports_olympiques_cyclisme_sur_piste_eng.pdf|archive-date=26 September 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Though men and women currently compete in the same number of events, there are still significant differences between men's and women's races of the same type. For example, in the [[team sprint]], men race three riders over three laps, whereas women race two riders over two laps, and men's [[individual pursuit]] is a 4&nbsp;km race and women only race 3&nbsp;km.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uci.org/olympic-games/track-cycling|title=Track Cycling|website=UCI|language=en|access-date=6 November 2019}}</ref> It is also the case that women race shorter distances than men in [[mass start]] events such as stand-alone [[Scratch race|scratch]] and [[points race]]s, and [[omnium]] events.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/35685126|title=World Track Cycling Championships 2017: The events explained|date=10 April 2017|access-date=6 November 2019|language=en-GB}}</ref>

In many cycling sports, women raced shorter distances, are paid less, and receive less air-time.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/100-tours-100-tales/2014/mar/06/equal-pay-womens-sport-cycling-koppenbergcross|title=The long, hard road to equal pay for women's cycling and sport as a whole|last=Clemitson|first=Suze|date=6 March 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=26 November 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bicycling.com/racing/a28414741/gender-inequality-cycling/|title=Female Pro Cyclists Deserve Equal Pay, Opportunities, and Support. It's About Time They Got It.|last=Diaz|first=Lucy|date=17 July 2019|website=Bicycling|language=en-US|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref> It was not until 2018 that the [[Union Cycliste Internationale|UCI]] mandated minimum wages for women's cycling at all.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/exclusive-womens-minimum-salary-will-equal-mens-pro-continental-level-by-2023/|title=Exclusive: Women's minimum salary will equal men's Pro Continental level by 2023|last=Frattini|first=Kirsten|website=cyclingnews.com|date=October 2018|language=en|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref> It is unclear how this will impact female track cyclists, as track cycling is generally not an athlete's primary source of income (rather they are road cyclists selected for specific events by their national team). There is no talk of changing race distances to create gender parity in time for the 2020 Olympics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bicycling.com/racing/a29848228/uci-women-olympic-spots/|title=Hey UCI: Your Sexism Is Showing|last=Bertine|first=Kathryn|date=22 November 2019|website=Bicycling|language=en-US|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref>

In 2018, [[Veronica Ivy]] (then known as Rachel McKinnon) became the first transgender World Champion in any sport, with a victory in the Masters Women Age 35–44 age category.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.velonews.com/2018/10/news/qa-dr-rachel-mckinnon-masters-track-champion-and-transgender-athlete_480206|title=Q&A: Dr. Rachel McKinnon, masters track champion and transgender athlete|date=15 October 2018|website=VeloNews.com|language=en-US|access-date=6 November 2019}}</ref> In 2019, Ivy became a repeat champion in the same discipline. Though met with some criticism, Ivy holds her title as transgender athletes are permitted to compete as per the [[International Olympic Committee]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bicycling.com/news/a29578581/rachel-mckinnon-world-championship-masters-win-transgender-sport-debate/|title=Transgender Cyclist Rachel McKinnon Wins Second-Straight World Masters Title|last=Reza|first=Rebecca|date=24 October 2019|website=Bicycling|language=en-US|access-date=6 November 2019}}</ref>