"Mini-Phinney" following in family tracks

Taylor Phinney of the U.S. competes in the qualifying round of the men's individual pursuit at the track cycling world championships in Manchester, northern England, in this March 26, 2008 file photo.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Just a year after roaring on to the cycling scene, American teenager Taylor Phinney says he feels no extra pressure from having two Olympic medalists for parents.

The son of Olympic road race gold medalist Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Olympic bronze medalist Davis Phinney has an outside chance of winning a medal in the 4,000-metre individual pursuit.

"Mini-Phinney", as the 6'4" cyclist is called, says he does not feel his Olympic genes are a burden.

"I don't come into this race as a huge favorite, which is something I like," the 18-year-old said.

"I'm sort of an underdog due to my age and my inexperience. I'm just here exactly for the experience and being a part of the Olympic Games."

Phinney is extremely close to his family and cites them as his most important support structure.

He is open about the struggles his father is going through with Parkinson's disease, which was diagnosed in 2000.

Phinney said his father is feeling better after deep brain stimulation surgery this year to help alleviate his symptoms and is in Beijing to watch him race.

"I think he feels a lot better now and he's excited to be here. I'm excited for him to be here as well. Though he appears unusually composed at a news conference, Phinney's youth shines through when he mentions that he could not get his parents access to training at the velodrome.

"Over the course of this year they've been with me the whole time. So coming here and have them distanced from me is a little bit hard," he said.

"But I'm 18 and supposed to be a man. So I've got to take care of myself," he added to laughter from his team mates. "They have Chinese mobiles and I have a Chinese mobiles so we've been calling each other."

His parents won their medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, father Davis getting his bronze in the team time trial.

His parents have stayed involved in cycling since their competitive days, but never put pressure on Phinney to take up the sport. He first became interested in racing after a family trip to the Tour de France in 2005.

Phinney won his very first track race -- the individual pursuit in 2007 at the U.S. National Championships. This year he won the junior World Championships and placed eighth in the world championships.

(Editing by Keith Weir)