Alexi Grewal
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Full name | Alexi Grewal | ||||||||||||||
Born | (1960-09-08) September 8, 1960 (age 63) Aspen, Colorado, United States | ||||||||||||||
Team information | |||||||||||||||
Current team | Retired | ||||||||||||||
Discipline | Road | ||||||||||||||
Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||
Professional teams | |||||||||||||||
1985 | Panasonic–Raleigh | ||||||||||||||
1986 | 7-Eleven | ||||||||||||||
1987 | RMO–Cycles Méral–Mavic | ||||||||||||||
1988 | Crest | ||||||||||||||
1989–1993 | Coors Light–ADR | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alexi Singh Grewal (born September 8, 1960) is an American Olympic gold medalist and former professional road racing cyclist. At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Grewal became the first American man to win an Olympic gold medal in road cycling.[1] He has two brothers, Rishi and Ranjeet, who were also top American cyclists, especially in mountain bike racing.[2]
Biography
The United States Bicycling Hall of Fame gave the following description of his Los Angeles gold medal ride: "With an estimated crowd of 300,000 lining the 190.2-kilometer route, Grewal edged Canadian Steve Bauer to claim the gold medal in the men's road race, breaking away from the field with 20 kilometers remaining and opening up a 24-second lead after 11 of 12 laps and then being caught by Bauer with 10 kilometers left, setting up a dramatic final-lap showdown. This scene, replayed many times since, is one of the most emotional Olympic victories of the Modern Games."[3]
After winning Olympic gold, Grewal turned professional and signed with the Panasonic team and later with the 7-Eleven Cycling Team. According to teammate Bob Roll, Grewal was the captain of the 1986 7-Eleven team through the spring.[4] Sometime later in 1986, he was dropped by the team after spitting on a CBS camera man who got too close.[5] He raced for the United States-based Coors Light pro team from 1989 to 1993. He became well known in the cycling community as an extraordinarily talented, but emotionally volatile rider.
After retiring from professional cycling Grewal moved to Colorado with his family. Grewal began making hand-hewn and crafted furniture and architectural features out of native hardwoods after his cycling days were over. He lost part of his fingers in an accident involving a saw.[6] A bicycle frame manufacturer in Denver, Colorado, the Clark-Kent company, made a special road racing frame, the "AX-1", to Grewal's specifications. This steel frame featured an unusual bent seat tube with unorthodox frame angles.
In 2004, Grewal was elected to the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.
On April 3, 2008, VeloNews published an essay by Grewal on his personal use (and the overall prevalence) of doping in cycling[7] during his career, both in his amateur and professional days.
In 2009, and again 2013, Alexi unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Loveland, Colorado.[8]
On September 25, 2010, VeloNews announced that Grewal would be making a comeback at age 50,[9] targeting the Quiznos Pro Challenge in Colorado in 2011. However, he was not on the start list and did not complete this race.[10] He instead turned his focus to non-professional gravel and gran fondo rides, such as the Snowmass-Aspen Gran Fondo Italia, finishing fourth out of 125 riders in one race.[11]
Major results
- 1981
- 1st Mt. Evans Hill Climb (1:57:36)
- 2nd Overall Vuelta Ciclista de Chile
- 1982
- 1st Overall Cascade Cycling Classic
- 2nd Overall Vuelta Ciclista de Chile
- 1st Stages 7 & 8
- 1983
- 1st Stage 8a Tour de l'Avenir
- 1st Stage 6a GP Tell
- 1st Stage 8 Coors Classic
- 1st Stage 10 Red Zinger Classic
- 1984
- 1st
Road race, Summer Olympics
- 1st Mt. Evans Hill Climb (1:47:51)
- 1st Stage 8 Tour of Texas
- 1985
- 5th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
- 1986
- 3rd Overall Tour de l'Avenir
- 1st Stage 12
- 1987
- 1st Overall Vulcan Tour
- 1st Prologue
- 1988
- 1st Overall Redlands Bicycle Classic
- 1st Stages 3 & 4 (TTT)
- 1st Overall Mammoth Classic
- 1st Stage 2
- 1989
- 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
- 1990
- 1st Mt. Evans Hill Climb (1:46:29 – former record)
- 1st Overall Casper Classic
- 1st Stage 2
- 1st Stage 4 Cascade Classic
- 1991
- 4th Overall Tour DuPont
- 1992
- 1st Overall Tour de Bisbee
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st Stage 10 Tour DuPont
- 1993
- 1st Nevada City Classic
- 1st Stage 5 Casper Classic
References
- ^ "Alexi Grewal Olympic Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
- ^ Emily V. Driscoll. "Pedaling Glory", Little India Archived 2010-02-01 at the Wayback Machine (Sep. 15, 2008). Retrieved 5-22-2010
- ^ U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame 2004 Inductees Archived 2010-05-19 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 5.22.2010
- ^ Roll, Bob (2003). Bobke II. Boulder, Colo.: VeloPress. ISBN 978-1-931382-28-1. OCLC 53097074.
- ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE; 7-Eleven Drops Grewal". The New York Times. 1986-08-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2018-02-03. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
- ^ Hansen, Matt (2004-02-16). "Alexi Grewal Pedal Exclusive: From Cyclist to Addict, Philosopher and Back". Pedal Magazine. Archived from the original on 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
- ^ Grewal, Alexi (2008-04-03). "An essay by 1984 Olympic gold medalist Alexi Grewal". VeloNews. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
- ^ "Alexi Grewal in 3-way race for Loveland mayor". Retrieved 2018-09-26.
- ^ Wilcockson, John (2010-09-24). "Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: Alexi Grewal is deadly serious about comeback". VeloNews. Retrieved 2010-09-25.[dead link]
- ^ Wilcockson, John (2014-08-06). "Grewal's big comeback adventure is over | VeloNews.com". VeloNews. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
- ^ "Alexi Grewal to ride Gran Fondo Italia Aspen-Snowmass – VeloNews.com". VeloNews. 2014-08-06. Archived from the original on 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
External links
- "U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame: Class of 2004". Archived from the original on 2010-05-19. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
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- 1896:
Aristidis Konstantinidis (GRE)
- 1936:
Robert Charpentier (FRA)
- 1948:
José Beyaert (FRA)
- 1952:
André Noyelle (BEL)
- 1956:
Ercole Baldini (ITA)
- 1960:
Viktor Kapitonov (URS)
- 1964:
Mario Zanin (ITA)
- 1968:
Pierfranco Vianelli (ITA)
- 1972:
Hennie Kuiper (NED)
- 1976:
Bernt Johansson (SWE)
- 1980:
Sergei Sukhoruchenkov (URS)
- 1984:
Alexi Grewal (USA)
- 1988:
Olaf Ludwig (GDR)
- 1992:
Fabio Casartelli (ITA)
- 1996:
Pascal Richard (SUI)
- 2000:
Jan Ullrich (GER)
- 2004:
Paolo Bettini (ITA)
- 2008:
Samuel Sánchez (ESP)
- 2012:
Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)
- 2016:
Greg Van Avermaet (BEL)
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Richard Carapaz (ECU)
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Remco Evenepoel (BEL)