Phil O'Shea

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Phil O'Shea Road cycling
Phil O'Shea (ca.1913)
Phil O'Shea (ca.1913)
To person
Nickname The champion
Date of birth April 16, 1889
date of death July 6, 1980
nation New ZealandNew Zealand New Zealand
discipline Road / train
Last updated: May 18, 2016

Phil O'Shea (born April 16, 1889 in Ashburton , † 1980 in Christchurch ) was a New Zealand cyclist and trainer. He is considered the first cycling star in his country and was nicknamed The Champion .

biography

Phil O'Shea's parents, Patrick and Nora, came to New Zealand from Cork in Ireland around 1887 after they had "run away": Nora Mulane's parents had refused the marriage because Patrick O'Shea was considered inappropriate. The couple settled in Christchurch, where they opened a transportation company. Phil O'Shea was one of five children in the family - a twin brother died in childbirth - and was sickly as a child but was encouraged to exercise. As a result of his illnesses, it is considered that he was only 1.67 meters tall and initially rather thin, through intensive training he became more muscular and gained 20 kilograms. When he started cycling at the age of 20, he was already an excellent cricket and rugby player .

In 1911, O'Shea won his first race, Timaru to Christchurch, even though the rear wheel of his bike was damaged in a collision; two years later he won this race again despite a serious fall on the way. Three times - in 1911, 1922 and 1923 - he won the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic , which was also considered the Championships of Australasia . During World War I he served as a motorcycle reporter in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and suffered gas poisoning. After a long recovery period, he started cycling again.

In 1923, O'Shea stopped racing on the road and only raced on the track . For this purpose, the organizers hired prominent drivers from other countries to compete against him. He also won numerous New Zealand championship titles on the track. At the age of 40 he ended his cycling career, but remained active in cycling as a trainer and official. He remained a great role model for young New Zealand cyclists: "O'Shea was like a ghost to us young riders: never there but always present."

In 1946 Phil O'Shea opened a bicycle shop in Christchurch, where he also built bicycles. Cyril Arnst won the race from Timara to Christchurch on an O'Shea bike, and Graeme Milner set a junior record. In 1965 he was invited by his former rival Hubert Opperman to the 70th edition of the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic ; it was his first trip to Australia since 1923. Opperman had meanwhile been Australian minister and had O'Shea, who was considered modest, picked up from the airport in a state car. He was overwhelmed by being treated like a “sporting royalty”.

O'Shea cycled to the cemetery every day until he was 89 years old to lay flowers on the grave of his wife Elizabeth, whom he had been married to since 1916. Then he had to stop cycling because of eye problems. He died of flu at the age of 91.

literature

  • Jonathan Kennett / Bronwen Wall: Phil O'Shea - Wizard on wheels . The Kennett Brothers, Wellington 2005, ISBN 0-9583490-8-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Cyclopunk: Daily Cycling Facts April 16, 2013. In: cyclopunk.blogspot.de. Retrieved April 21, 2016 .
  2. ^ Kennett / Wall, Phil O'Shea , p. 91.
  3. ↑ 'The Champion,' Phil O'Shea. In: Teara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. February 3, 2011, accessed April 21, 2016 .
  4. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News archive search. In: news.google.com. September 16, 1930. Retrieved April 21, 2016 .
  5. ^ Kennett / Wall, Phil O'Shea , p. 95.
  6. ^ Kennett / Wall, Phil O'Shea , p. 84.
  7. ^ Kennett / Wall, Phil O'Shea , p. 89.
personal data
SURNAME O'Shea, Phil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand cyclist and trainer
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Ashburton
DATE OF DEATH July 6, 1980
Place of death Christchurch