British cycling reacted with dismay after the IOC announced that no events would be added to its program at the Olympic Games in 2012, seemingly closing the door on Victoria Pendleton’s chances of more than one gold.

The decision means that the governing body’s campaign for equality in men’s and women’s track cycling events – there are seven men’s and three women’s events – is almost certainly doomed to failure.

British Cycling began lobbying for parity after the Beijing Games, where the female sprinter Pendleton had only one opportunity to win a gold medal while her male counterpart, Chris Hoy, had three. “There isn’t a reason why we shouldn’t have the same number of events as the men,” said Pendleton, the gold medalist in the sprint. The campaign won the backing of the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, who is expected to meet IOC president Jacques Rogge this weekend in Berlin.