Brian Cookson

Brian Cookson (2013)

Michael Brian Cookson ( OBE ; born June 22, 1951 in Preston , Lancashire ) is a British sports official. From September 2013 to September 2017 he was President of the World Cycling Federation Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI); previously he was 1996-2013 president of the British Cycling Federation British Cycling .

Career as a functionary

Brian Cookson has been involved in organizing cycling races since 1969. From 1981 to 1985 he was league secretary for road racing , from 1984 to 1987 league vice-president and from 1993 to 1997 league president. From 1984 to 1993 he was active in various bodies of the British Cycling Federation , the predecessor association of British Cycling . He has been president of the association since 1996. During his presidency it was possible to consolidate the finances of the nearly insolvent association. Since 1996 he has also represented cycling in the British Olympic Association .

In 1986, Cookson qualified as UCI commissioner and was active as a competition judge in many major races, including the Tour de France , the Milk Race , the International Peace Ride and stage races in Australia , South Africa , Germany , Spain and France . He was also active in several cycling world championships and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona .

In 2009 Brian Cookson was elected to the Management Committee of the World Cycling Federation UCI, was President of the Commission for Cyclo-cross races from 2009 to 2011 and has been President of the Road Cycling Commission since 2011. He is also a member of the board of the British Olympic Society .

As President of the UCI Road Cycling Commission, Cookson was criticized by British rider, world and Olympic champion Nicole Cooke when she resigned in January 2013. The commission, under Cookson's leadership, refused to set a minimum salary for female cyclists as well as male athletes. Other female riders also criticized Cookson's lack of commitment to women's cycling on the road.

On June 4, 2013, Cookson announced that he was running as an opposing candidate to the previous President Pat McQuaid in the election of President of the UCI. On the occasion of his candidacy, Brian Cookson put a manifest under the heading Restoring Trust, Leading Change online. The core sentence of the manifesto reads: “The UCI must take the steps necessary to restore cycling's and its own credibility, in particular in relation to the public perception of cycling's anti-doping measures and current leadership.” (German: “The UCI must take measures to restore the credibility of cycling and the federation, particularly with regard to the public perception of anti-doping measures and the leading role of cycling. ") The UCI is at a" crossroads "in this election, said Cookson.

The election took place on September 27, 2013 as part of the Road World Championships in the Florentine Palazzo Vecchio . Out of 42 votes, 24 went to Cookson, 18 to his rival McQuaid, who stood for election despite the UCI's regulations. McQuaid should have been nominated by his Irish home association, which they refused. Instead, it was nominated by Thailand, Morocco and Switzerland, with the Swiss Association Swiss Cycling having withdrawn the nomination after the deadline. Annoyed by this decision, the then President of the Swiss Association, Richard Chassot , resigned after a year in office. After hours of legal discussions about the legality of McQuaid's candidacy, Cookson finally called for a vote "unnerved" and won it.

On September 21, 2017, Brian Cookson ran for a second election for the office of President of the UCI, but was defeated by the President of the European Union UEC , David Lappartient , from France, with eight to 37 votes . Cookson complained that his predecessor, Pat McQuaid, had turned against him in the run-up to the election among the delegates. It is believed that Cookson's defeat could be related to scandals surrounding British Cycling that began during his presidency there.

Cookson as a cyclist

In his youth, Brian Cookson was active as a cyclist himself, on the road, on the track , in cross-country and mountain bike races . In 1971 he won the Lakeland Division Road Championship .

In later years Cookson took part as a cyclist in several cycling competitions, including the L'Étape du Tour , a race for everyone , in which a stage of the Tour de France is completed, and the Fred Whitton Challenge . In 2011 he drove the Pyrenees from coast to coast, in 2012 he competed in the national Masters cycling championships.

Honor

In 2006 Brian Cookson received his association's highest award, a gold plaque. In 2008 Brian Cookson was awarded the Order of the British Empire . In 2009 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Central Lancashire , as he has been involved in this university in many ways.

Professional and family

In 1973 Brian Cookson graduated from Manchester Polytechnic with a degree in landscape architecture and worked as such and as an urban planner . From 2004 until his retirement in 2013, he was an alderman for the Pendle Borough Council .

Cookson is married with three children and lives in Lancashire.

Web links

Commons : Brian Cookson  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Brian Cookson's website
• Brian Cookson at britishcycling.org.uk
• Interview with Brian Cookson on sueddeutsche.de v. 3rd July 2013

Individual evidence

1. ^ Nicole Cooke's retirement statement in full on theguardian.com v. January 14, 2013
2. ↑ Manifesto on briancookson.org ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.6 MB)  
3. ↑ Power struggle in cycling: McQuaid reaches into the bag of tricks on spiegel.de v. September 27, 2013
4. ↑ Cookson is the new UCI President on radsport-news.com v. September 27, 2013
5. ↑ New UCI President Cookson: "I hated how this sport broke down" on spiegel.de v. September 27, 2013
6. ↑ UCI: Lappartient new President - Toni Kirsch elected to the Management Committee. rad-net.de, September 21, 2017, accessed on September 21, 2017 . 
7. ^ Nigel Wynn: David Lappartient elected as new UCI president as Brian Cookson loses out. Cycling Weekly, September 21, 2017, accessed September 21, 2017 . 
8. ^ Brian Cookson Awarded Honorary Fellowship of UCLAN on britishcycling.org.uk v. 4th December 2009
9. ↑ briancookson.org ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.