Jocelyn Charles Bjorn Lovell (19 July 1950 – 3 June 2016) was a Canadian cyclist. He won dozens of Canadian national titles for track and road cycling in the 1970s and early 1980s, as well as gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games. He competed at three Olympic Games.[1] His victories, at international competitions, renewed global interest in Canadian cycling.[2]
At the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, he won three gold medals in Games record times. Later that year he won a silver medal at the world championships. He continued to race as an amateur into the early 1980s.
On 4 August 1983, he was hit by a dump truck while training in Halton Region, just northwest of Toronto.[3] The driver collided with him from behind, breaking Lovell's neck and pelvis.[4] From that moment on, he permanently became a quadriplegic. No charges were laid.[5] By 1985, he was sufficiently well enough that he focused his energies on activism for a cure for spinal injuries through his foundation.
During July 1973, the Canadian team trained in Spain and France. Living daily in close quarters for over three weeks only made tensions within the team more intense. Lovell was a free-spirit and that caused him to have a combative relationship with some of the team's coaches and administrators.[10] He also had a tense relationship with some of his teammates.[11]
The suppressed tensions between the team and Lovell finally surfaced into the open during what became known as the "Cookie Incident." It turned out, that his hotel room key, also opened a supply room door on his floor. He raided the pantry and took a box of cookies. He shared the cookies with his teammates, but one of them objected to his behaviour. The team captain reported him to team officials. The officials used this incident, and a scuffle with a teammate – that happened around this time – to force him to go back to Canada before the rest of the team. The coaching staff then started disciplinary proceedings against him through the sport's oversight body, the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA), partially to retaliate against him for his insubordination.[11]
Suspension
After many months of deliberations, the President of the CCA, Guy Morin, on 20 November 1973, informed Lovell that he was suspended from the team for six months. Some of the coaches wanted a lifetime ban, but the review committee did not agree.[11] The decision meant he would not be part of Team Canada at the Commonwealth Games in New Zealand in January 1974.[11] Not only did it deny Lovell from defending his Commonwealth titles, but Team Canada would not win a medal in men's cycling at those games.[12]
Considering Turning Pro
The suspension made Lovell actually consider going Pro in Europe. He did travel to Amsterdam in late January 1974 and trained as an amateur, preparing to join a professional club.[13] He won some races in Europe,[10] but got turned off of turning pro because of the small amount of money involved and the
drug-doping that the pros were doing.[12] When the ban was up, he returned to Canada in July, and maintained his amateur status to compete at the 1974 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in August, held in Montreal.[12]
1976 Olympics
During July 1976, Lovell represented Canada at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Track events were staged at the new indoor Olympic Velodrome. Originally, he was only going to compete in his speciality, the 1000-metre time trial. On 20 July, he placed thirteenth, but he was not surprised by his poor showing. He was amazed at Klaus-Jürgen Grünke's winning time of 1:05.927, which was almost three-full seconds faster than Lovell's 1:08:852 time.[14]
Unexpectedly, Lovell would ride in another event. There was much drama with Team Canada's four-man 4000-metre pursuit team. Two Quebec members quit at the games: Robert Pelltier and André Simard. Lovell replaced Simard. The team then consisted of Lovell, Hugh Walton of Toronto, Adrian Proser of Hamilton and Ron Hayman of Vancouver.[15] Bad luck followed as Proser had a tire blowout and he crashed during the qualifying round. The crash disqualified Canada, and with it, Lovell's chance at a medal.[16]
1976 Canadian Track Cycling Championships
The following month, he and team Ontario won more medals at the 1976 Canadian Track Cycling Championships held at Montreal's Olympic Velodrome.[17]Gordon Singleton, from Niagara Falls took on Lovell in the best of three sprint final. Lovell was favoured and won the first race. But, Singleton won the second race forcing the unexpected third race. The third race ended in a tie as Lovell made a tactical mistake. In the tie-breaker forth race, Lovell won, but the young challenger Singleton proved much with his silver medal finish.[18] The Ontario pursuit team, anchored by both Lovell and Singleton, took the gold medal for the second year in a row.[18]
The first event he entered was the 1000-metre time trial on 4 August, which was the first day of competition at the games. There were 36 racers and as one of the Commonwealth's best track racers he drew the last seed. Other veteran racers David Weller from Jamaica, and Trevor Gadd from England were given the remaining late seeds.[20]
There were two surprise breakout performances at this event from newer racers: Gordon Singleton from Canada and Kenrick Tucker from Australia.[21] Both were junior members of their respective teams. Tucker was the fourth seed and posted a new games record time of 1:06.96 that was the fastest for the next two hours. Singleton posted a time of 1:07.56 that was good enough for second at that point.[20] Then, the final racer, Lovell, came on the track after a 30-minute weather delay because of lightening storms near the velodrome. Lovell posted a new Commonwealth record time of 1:06.00 and won the gold medal in the event. Singleton had to settle for the bronze medal.[20]
Tandem Sprint
Lovell followed up his gold performance by teaming up with Singleton in the Tandem Sprint. The pair took home the gold on 10 August against the English team of Gadd and Dave Le Grys. The English team crashed on the track during the finals and could not continue, giving the Canadians the gold by default.[22]
10-Mile Scratch Race
Later that day, Lovell again competed in the games final track event, the 10-mile (15 km) scratch race. Lovell staid in the pack, behind the leaders until the final three laps. He began his move to catch the leaders by breaking away from the pack and catching up to the leaders. He took the lead in the final two laps and won his third gold medal of the games.[22]
1978 UCI Track Cycling World Championshps
Just over a week after the Commonwealth Games, on 17 August, Lovell was in Munich, West Germany, to participate in 1978 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. He raced in the 1000-metre time trial event, posting a time of 1:06.28. That was the leading time until the final seed. The last rider was East Germany's Lothar Thoms, and his time of 1:05.23 was over a second better than Lovell's time. Thoms took home the gold medal and Lovell got his first silver medal at a world championships.[23]
Use of Marinoni Bicycles
In the 1970s, Montrealer Guiseppe Marinoni, made some of the best track bicycles in Canada.[24] Lovell used these bicycles through much of his middle and later career. One bicycle in particular held a special relationship between both men: the 1978 Marinoni bicycle used by Lovell to win the Canadian championships and the silver at the UCI championships that year. Marinoni remembered, “dropping it off at noon, and by 4:00 p.m. Lovell was a champion.” [25]
Once Lovell started focusing more on road racing in the early 1980s, as a sign of gratitude, he gave the bicycle back to Marinoni.[26] Marinoni used this bike, at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre velodrome, to attempt breaking the one-hour record for his age group in 2017.[25]
In the documentary film Marinoni: The Fire in the Frame, Marinoni is shown reuniting with Lovell, now in a wheelchair at the latter's home in Port Credit, Ontario, in 2012.[24][27] At this reunion, Lovell gave Marinoni his five gold medals from the 1974 Canadian track championships.[28]
Spinal-cord activism
After the crash that turned Lovell into a quadriplegic, in August 1983, he spent over a year recuperating and learning how to get around in a wheelchair. By 1985, he was sufficiently well enough that he focused his energies on activism for a cure for spinal injuries.[29] He started and presided over the Jocelyn Lovell Foundation to help fund research into repairing spinal-cords.[6] Much of the foundation's work in the 1980s was in conjunction with McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. At the time, it was one of the few medical research schools in Canada working on regenerating nerve fibres and repairing spinal-cords.[30]
Personal life
Lovell was born in Norwich, England in 1950. He moved with his family to Canada in 1954. He started cycle racing when he was 13.[4]
Lovell was married to speed skater and competitive cyclist Sylvia Burka in 1981.[4] They separated in 1986.[31] He lived in Mississauga, Ontario with his second wife, Neil.[5] He died in Toronto on Friday, 3 June 2016.[3]
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Lee, Betty Lou (3 July 1985). "Ex-cyclist finds hope in Mac research". The Hamilton Spectator. Hamilton, Ontario. p. 1. Retrieved 14 April 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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