By Tim Reynolds, AP Sports Writer

BEIJING — Davis Phinney looked around the velodrome, the light from the dozens of spotlights illuminating his bright smile.

 “Amazing,” the American cycling legend marveled.

credits: Ivan Sekretaren/AP

He then held out his hands, holding both perfectly still, something he couldn’t do a few months ago.

 “Amazing,” he said again.

And then the former Olympian rose from his seat to hug his 18-year-old son Taylor, who’d just finished seventh in his very first Olympic race, qualifying for the next round and keeping medal hopes in the individual pursuit alive.

Never mind that the kid was disappointed with his placing and his time. Never mind that he went out too fast, as is his custom, and paid the price in the latter stages of the race. Didn’t matter. The Phinney family and about two dozen of their closest friends were in Beijing on Friday, watching perhaps the next U.S. cycling star make his debut on sport’s biggest stage.

What a day. What a year. And it’s not over yet.

“You hate to say it doesn’t get better than this,” Davis Phinney said, “but this is pretty darn good. Pretty darn special.”

Taylor Phinney’s time in the 4,000-meter individual pursuit qualifier, the first of three steps he’ll have to navigate if he’s to join his mother and father and win an Olympic medal, was 4:22.860, about a half-second off his personal best and about four seconds slower than what he hoped for.

Still, it was good enough.

He had to be in the top eight to move on; he achieved that goal, and now, anything extra would be considered a bonus.

“I’m satisfied,” Taylor Phinney said. “My main goal coming in here was to qualify. I have done that, tomorrow’s another day and I think nothing is impossible. We’ll see, but nothing is impossible.”

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