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.

In December 2009, Whitten rode on the team that won the gold medal in the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics Women's Team Pursuit in Cali, Colombia, along with fellow Canadian National Team members Laura Brown and Stephanie Roorda, concurrently setting a new Canadian National Record in this event as well with a time of 3:27.289. Of note, the Women's Team Pursuit has been added as an Olympic event for 2012. She also won two silver medals, in the Individual Pursuit (time of 3:34.547) and Points Race.

In March 2010, Whitten won the gold medal in the Omnium and Points race at the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Ballerup.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she was part of the Canadian team that won the bronze medal in the women's team pursuit. 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, but she was officially named to Canada's 2016 Olympic team.

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.

Track

 * 2008
 * National Track Championships
 * 1st MaillotCan.PNG Individual pursuit
 * 1st MaillotCan.PNG Points race
 * 3rd 500m time trial
 * 3rd Scratch
 * 2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Individual pursuit, Manchester
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Scratch, Manchester
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Individual pursuit, Cali
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Points race, Cali


 * 2009
 * 2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Cali
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Team pursuit
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Individual pursuit
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Points race
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Omnium, UCI Track Cycling World Championships
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Individual pursuit, 2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Copenhagen


 * 2010
 * UCI Track Cycling World Championships
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Omnium
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Points race
 * Omnium, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Melbourne
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Cali
 * Commonwealth Games
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Individual pursuit
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Points race
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Team sprint
 * 2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Beijing
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Individual pursuit
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Team pursuit


 * 2011
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Omnium, UCI Track Cycling World Championships
 * 1st Overall, Omnium, 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Ranking
 * 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, Beijing
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Omnium
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Team pursuit
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Omnium, 2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Cali


 * 2012
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Team pursuit, 2011–12 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, London
 * 3rd Bronze medal olympic.svg Team pursuit, Summer Olympics
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Team pursuit, UCI Track Cycling World Championships

Road

 * 2009
 * 1st MaillotCan.PNG Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 8th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships


 * 2010
 * Commonwealth Games
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Time trial
 * 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
 * 2nd Silver medal america.svg Time trial, Pan American Road Championships
 * 8th Overall Joe Martin Stage Race
 * 8th Chrono Gatineau


 * 2016
 * 1st MaillotCan.PNG Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 1st Overall Cascade Cycling Classic
 * 1st Mountains classification
 * 1st Stages 2 (ITT) & 5
 * 2nd Chrono Gatineau
 * 7th Time trial, Summer Olympics