"I am not giving up until the battle is over," she said in an e-mail. "I believe I am the strongest U.S. woman for the position and until that gate drops in Beijing, I will continue to train as if I am going."

Martin crashed in her quarterfinal run during the world championships in China, failing to score any rankings points while her good friend and rival Jill Kintner made it all the way to the final. Kintner finished sixth and earned just enough points to eclipse Martin by one for the only existing starting spot for the American women at the Beijing Games.

"Pretty heartbreaking for me," Martin wrote in her blog.

But the Lone Peak High and Brigham Young graduate said that after a "week or so" home in Utah, she will return to training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. She's the top alternate for the team, so she will race at the Olympics if Kintner cannot - a realistic possibility, considering Kintner recently tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in her knee and races with a brace for support.

Martin also said there's a chance that New Zealand will not fill one of its starting positions, potentially allowing it to fall to the U.S. and create room for both her and Kintner to race at the Olympics.

However, a USA Cycling spokesman said it's "extremely unlikely" that a nation would reject a starting position - and even if one did, International Cycling Union (UCI) procedures dictate that any unfilled spots will be allocated to nations that don't already have starting positions. Spokesman Andy Lee said the UCI will finalize the number of Olympic entries for which each nation has qualified on Friday. After that, national Olympic committees have until June 20 to accept or deny those spots. If a spot is denied, the UCI has until July 7 to reallocate it.

The Olympics begin Aug. 8; the inaugural BMX competition is scheduled for Aug. 20-21.

"In all honesty, it's pretty crushing to have lost that position because of a crash," Martin wrote in her e-mail, "but that's the game. . . . Rest assured, I haven't given up hope quite yet."

mcl@sltrib.com