Billy Pett

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Billy Pett Road cycling
To person
Full name William James Pett
Date of birth August 25, 1873
date of death December 27, 1954 or December 28, 1954
nation United Kingdom
discipline Train , road
Societies)
approx. 1904 to 1908 Putney Cycling Club
Most important successes
Olympic Intermediate Games
gold20-kilometer race 1906

William James Pett (born August 25, 1873 in Derby , † December 27, 1954 or December 28, 1954 in Ewell ) was a British cyclist .

Billy Pett only started cycling when he was 20 years old. He was already 30 years old when he was runner-up in the amateurs' standing races at the UCI Track World Championships in London in 1904 . The following year he became the British 50-mile track champion .

In 1906 Pett started at the Olympic Intermediate Games in Athens and won the gold medal in the 20-kilometer track race. He also took part in the road race, which he could not finish after a fall. Two years later, he finished fourth in the 100-kilometer track race at the Olympic Games in London, after he and the other British drivers had put on the sprint for the eventual winner Charles Bartlett . The race was considered a major event for which the Prince of Wales had donated a trophy.

1908 presented Pett a British hour record when he behind a tandem as a pacemaker 30 miles and 1,170 yards drove. The record lasted for 20 years.

Billy Pett achieved all of these successes despite being a full-time professional alongside cycling. He worked in the Harrods wine cellar and worked from eight in the morning to seven in the evening every day. So he could never take part in evening races during the week. After retiring from active cycling, Pett worked as a cycling official for more than 25 years, including serving as a timekeeper at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.

1951 Pett was honored with the inclusion in the Golden Book of Cycling .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Billy Pett on thepedalclub.org ( Memento from April 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Pett, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pett, William James
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Derby
DATE OF DEATH December 27, 1954 or December 28, 1954
Place of death Ewell