 Australian Institute of Sport Track Cycling Coach Gary West with Olympic Champion Anna Meares in 2013 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | 8 June 1960 Mildura, Victoria[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 20 August 2017 (aged 57) Adelaide, South Australia | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Gary West (8 June 1960 – 20 August 2017) was an Australian Olympic cyclist and track cycling coach.
He competed in the points race event at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[2] He was also an alternate on the gold medal-winning team pursuit squad at the 1984 Games.[3] At the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, West won a gold medal as a member of the men's team pursuit.[1]
West had an extensive track cycling coaching career. He worked for the Japan Cycling Federation and the United States Cycling Federation.[3] In 2006, West was appointed Head Cycling Coach at South Australian Sports Institute.[3] In 2008, he was appointed National Head Track Sprint Cycling Coach at the Australian Institute of Sport in Adelaide.[3] He coached Anna Meares to gold and bronze medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Olympics respectively.[3] In October 2016, West stepped down from his national coaching role whilst he battled motor neurone disease.[4]
West was a track sprint coach for Australia at the 1998, 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games.[1] In 2016, he was awarded AIS Best of the Best at the Australian Institute of Sport Performance Awards.[5]
West died on 20 August 2017 in Adelaide from motor neurone disease, age 57.[6]
