Australian cyclist
Ryan Neville Bayley OAM (born 9 March 1982) is an Australian professional track cyclist and double Olympic gold medallist.
Biography
Born in Perth, Western Australia, Bayley started competitive cycling in 1997 at fifteen years of age. He is a member of the Albany Cycling Club and employed by the Australian Institute of Sport.
Bayley won gold medals for the Sprint and Team Sprint track cycling events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
His greatest success as a track cyclist came in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he won gold medals in the sprint and Keirin events.[1]
Following Bayley's failure to win a medal at the World Cup round in Sydney in December 2007, he was criticised by Martin Barras, the national coach, for not developing his tactics. He was still employing the same final kick which achieved success in Athens, the opposition had learnt to attack early to counter this.[2][3]
In February 2008, tension was brewing between Bayley and his rival for Olympic selection, Shane Perkins. Both were deemed by the judges to be riding improperly at the Australian National Track Championships. Bayley crashed when Perkins moved down on him during a race, burning a hole in the back of his skinsuit. The relationship between the two riders was given another dimension, when Perkins announced his engagement to Bayley's younger sister, Kristine Bayley.[4]
Bayley was finally selected to ride at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, as Perkins had not competed in any Team Sprint events.[5][6] Bayley qualified in 12th place in the sprint event and eventually finished 11th, he was eliminated from the Keirin in the second round, placing 8th overall; he blamed himself for poor tactics. Bayley was also a member of the Team Sprint squad along with Daniel Ellis and Mark French, they qualified for the final ride-off for the bronze medal. After a strong start, they faded and finished fourth, missing out on a medal by 0.008 of a second.[7]
Bayley now lives in Brisbane with his wife and their two children.
Awards and honours
Bayley was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the 2005 Australia Day Honours List. Other awards include:
Keirin, 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Athens
