Nelson Vails
Nelson Vails (2007) | |
To person | |
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Nickname | The Cheetah |
Date of birth | October 13, 1960 |
nation | United States |
discipline | train |
Most important successes | |
Last updated: May 9, 2020 |
Nelson Beasley Vails (born October 13, 1960 in New York City ) is a former American track cyclist .
Athletic career
Nelson Vails was the youngest of ten children in a family in Harlem . He got his first bike at the age of six and - according to his own words - became “bike crazy”. He later worked as a bicycle courier and earned the nickname Cheetah for moving smoothly like a big cat through the traffic jungle of New York. At the same time he drove bike races; he practiced in Central Park .
In 1983 Vails started at the Pan American Games in Caracas and won the gold medal in the sprint . The following year he became the American amateur sprint champion , competed at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles and won the silver medal in the sprint, behind his compatriot Mark Gorski . This made him the first African American to win an Olympic medal in cycling. At the UCI track world championships in 1985 in Bassano del Grappa , he was runner- up in the tandem race , together with Leslie Barczewski . In 1984 and 1985 he was national tandem champion with Barczewski, and in 1986 with Scott Berryman .
Professional
Since retiring from cycling in 1994, Vails has worked as a television cycling commentator. In 1986 he played a bicycle courier with Kevin Bacon in the movie Quicksilver .
successes
- 1983
- 1984
- American champion - sprint, tandem with ( Leslie Barczewski )
- Olympic Games - Sprint
- 1985
- World Championship - Tandem (with Leslie Barczewski )
- American champion - tandem with ( Leslie Barczewski )
- 1986
- American Champion - tandem with ( Scott Berryman )
Web links
- Nelson Vails in the database of Radsportseiten.net
- Nelson Vails in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
- Fastest Cat: Nelson Vails on billcotton.com ( Memento from March 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Nelson Vails on usbhof.org
- Personal website
Individual evidence
- ↑ You Can Own Raleigh's Limited-Edition Track Bike Commemorating Nelson Vails. In: bicycling.com. June 10, 2019, accessed May 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Sandra Wright Sutherland: No Brakes! Bicycle Track Racing in the United States . Iris, Encinitas, Ca., S. 270 ff .
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Vails, Nelson |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vails, Nelson Beasley (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American track cyclist |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 13, 1960 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |