China's London cycling appeal denied by UCI

China's cycling team has finally heard back from the International Cycling Union following an appeal they launched during this Summer's London Olympics. The Chinese squad called into question, a ruling that cost their women's sprint team a gold medal. The ruling did not go in China's favour.

Pan Zhichen, Director of the National Cycling and Fencing Management Center, said, "Our appeal has been rejected and the result cannot be changed. But the UCI president says he will require the referees to provide a full report to the Chinese team, to explain why the decision was made. And because of the controversy over the ruling, there is also a possibilty the rule could be changed in the future."

In the women's team sprint final, Guo Shuang and Gong Jinjie of China finished first, but they were deemed to have violated the rules due to an illegal pass. As a result the squad was downgraded to second, and Britain awarded the gold.