Michael Gallagher (cyclist)

Michael Gallagher

2012 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Gallagher
Personal information
Full name Michael Thomas Gallagher
Nationality Australian
Born 14 December 1978
Scotland
Sport
Sport Track and road cycling
Disability Erb's palsy
Disability class C5
Club Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club

Michael Thomas Gallagher, OAM [1](born 14 December 1978) is an Australian Paralympic cyclist from Scotland.

Personal

Gallagher was born on 14 December 1978 in Scotland. He lives in Melbourne and is a builder by trade.[2] He has Erb's palsy in his right shoulder, due to an accident at birth.[3] He runs a construction business.[4]

Cycling

Gallagher is a C5 classified track and road cyclist.[4] He started cycling with a family friend when he was twenty-five years old, and then started taking the sport more seriously. He cycles for Carnegie Caulfield CC, is affiliated with the Victorian Institute of Sport and is coached by Hilton Clarke Sennior. He first represented Australia in 2005 at the IPC European Championships. His cycling is sponsored by Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS), Bianchi, 2XU and CSM Cycles.[2]

He was part of the Australian team at the 2005 IPC European Championships, the 2006 and 2007 Para-cycling World Championships, and the 2009, 2011 and 2012 Para-cycling Track World Championships. I He has also participated in road-racing competitions, including the 2009 Para-cycling Road World Championships and the 2011 Para-cycling Road World Cup in Australia.[2]

At the 2008 Beijing Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's Individual Pursuit LC1 event, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia,[1] and a bronze medal in the Men's Individual Road Race LC1–2/CP4 event.[5] At the 2012 London Paralympics, he participated in the Men's Road Race C4–5, Men's Time Trial C5, Men's Individual Pursuit C5 and the Mixed Team Sprint C1–5 events – winning a gold medal in the Individual Pursuit C5 and a bronze medal in the Time Trial C5.[5]

Competing at the 2013 Para-cycling Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Canada, he won a gold medal in the Men's Road Race C5.[6] At the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, he won the gold medal in the Men's 4 km Individual Pursuit C4. He broke the world record with a time of 4minutes and 24.057 seconds in the qualifying.[7]

Recognition

Gallagher was named the Victorian Athlete of the Year with a Disability in 2006 and 2007. He was one of the top three finalists for the Australian Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award in 2006 and the Victorian Institute of Sport Award of Excellence in 2007. He also received the Victorian Institute of Sport Coaches Award for Cycling in 2006. In 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, he was named the Cycling Australia Male Para-cyclist of the Year. In 2008, he was one of eighty Australians to participate in the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay.[2] In November 2013, he was named Cycling Australia's Elite Male Para-Cyclist of the Year.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)". ABC News. 27 January 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Michael Gallagher". Cycling Australia. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  3. ↑ "Michael Gallagher". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Michael Gallagher". Australian Paralyampic Committee Team Profile. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Michael Gallagher's profile on paralympic.org. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  6. ↑ "Para-cyling Road World Championships - Results". UCI Website. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Australia finishes Para Track Worlds as top nation". Cycling Australia News. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Caroline Buchanan awarded Opie medal". Cycling Australia News. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.

External links