Floyd MacFarland

Floyd MacFarland (1901/02)

Floyd MacFarland (born July 9, 1878 in San José , California , † April 17, 1915 in Newark , New Jersey ) was an American track cyclist . At the beginning of the 20th century he was one of the pioneers of the six-day race .

biography

Sports career

In 1896 and 1898, Floyd MacFarland was the American professional sprint champion . His biggest rival in this discipline was the black driver Major Taylor , the McFarland, descendant of a planter family from Virginia, together with a "racist clique" made life difficult. He even founded his own national racing association, the "Cycle Racing Association", to force Taylor, whose grandparents had been slaves, out of the races. It is said that MacFarland never called Taylor by name, only referred to him as a "nigger".

In the following years, MacFarland concentrated on six-day races and two-man team driving and in 1900 won the second six-day race with Harry Elkes in New York's Madison Square Garden , which was held with a two-man team. MacFarland won the Boston Six Days of December 1901 after a tough battle with less than a wheel's length against George Leander . MacFarland, notorious for his hot temper, was of the opinion that Leander had hindered him on the last lap and pounced on it. There was a fight with more than 200 people involved. In 1909 MacFarland, called "Human Engine", was the first winner of the Berlin six-day race together with Jimmy Moran . In 1901 and 1904 he was also American champion in two-man team driving.

Manager and organizer

In total, MacFarland won 400 races during his active career, but was also active as a manager and organizer during that time. In January 1913 he organized the first six-day race in Paris at the Vélodrome d'Hiver with three American teams at the start; among the audience was Ernest Hemingway , who was infected with the six-day virus from then on. In 1914, Floyd MacFarland introduced the point system for intermediate sprints in races in the USA, which was invented by the Berlin journalist Fredy Budzinski .

death

In April 1915 MacFarland saw on the cycling track of Newark that a seller for refreshments named David Lantenberg billboards screwed to the gang train. MacFarland, director of the track, had forbidden this because screws or nails had repeatedly landed on the track, which was dangerous for the racing drivers. There was a loud argument in front of around 150 witnesses. When MacFarland tried to wrest the screwdriver from Lantenberg, the latter accidentally stabbed him in the back of the head with the tool; Horrified by his own deed, Lantenberg took MacFarland to the hospital in his car, where he died. 1500 people followed the funeral procession at the funeral. Lantenberg was charged with manslaughter but acquitted in June of that year.

MacFarland was described as a colorful personality, of tall stature, dominant, educated, always elegantly dressed, full of persuasiveness and charm, but also of quick-tempered temperament and a racist attitude. A contemporary journalist wrote in an obituary: "MacFarland was a crook, but a lovable one."

literature

• Roger de Maertelaere: Mannen van de night. 100 years of zesdaagsen. De Eecloonaar, Eeklo 2000, ISBN 90-74128-67-X .
• Peter Joffre Nye: The Six-Day Bicycle Races. America's Jazz-Age Sport. Van der Plas Publishing, San Francisco CA 2006, ISBN 1-892-49549-X .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Andrew Ritchie: Major Taylor. The extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer. Bicycle Books, San Francisco CA et al. 1988, ISBN 0-933201-14-1 , pp. 141 ff.
2. ↑ Bobkestrut.com accessed on May 18, 2010 (English)
3. ^ New York Times v. April 18, 1915 ( Memento of the original from November 10, 2012 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. 
4. ^ Nye, p. 96

Web links

Commons : Floyd MacFarland  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Floyd MacFarland in the Radsportseiten.net database