Tom Butler (cyclist)

Tom Butler

Tom Butler (before 1900)
To person
Date of birth	1878
date of death	unknown
nation	United States
discipline	train
Most important successes
Railway World Championships 1899 - sprint
Last updated: May 13, 2020

Tom Butler (* 1878 in Halifax , Canada ; † after 1899) was an American track cyclist .

Athletic career

Butler (r.) With “ Mile-a-Minute Murphy ” during a race on home trainers

In 1898, Tom Butler became the American sprint champion . The following year he won the silver medal in the sprint behind Major Taylor at the track cycling world championships in Montreal in 1899 .

He was the younger brother of Boston cyclists Frank and Nat Butler ; the Butler Brothers were feared opponents on the track. Nat was the most successful of the three and, unlike them, later also raced in Europe. Major Taylor, an African American, had to contend with severe hostility in cycling circles, including from the Butler brothers. They tried to push him out of the cycling federations, which would have meant that he would not have been able to compete for championship titles and allied themselves in races against him.

After, Tom Butler apparently ended his cycling career after 1901; There is no information about his further life.

successes

1898

• American champion - sprint

1899

• World Championship - Sprint

Web links

Commons : Tom Butler  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Tom Butler in the Radsportseiten.net database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Andrew Ritchie: Major Taylor. The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer . Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore / London, ISBN 978-0-8018-5303-6 , pp. 127 ff .