Ryan Bayley

Ryan Bayley

Personal information
Full name	Ryan Bayley
Born	9 March 1982 Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight	90 kg (200 lb; 14 st)[1]
Team information
Discipline	Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional team(s)
-	Team Toshiba
Major wins
Keirin, UCI Track Cycling World Championships Sprint, 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Athens Keirin, 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Athens
Medal record Competitor for  Australia Track cycling Olympic Games 2004 Athens Keirin 2004 Athens Sprint Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester Sprint 2002 Manchester Team Sprint 2006 Melbourne Keirin 2006 Melbourne Sprint World Championship 2001 Antwerpen Keirin 2001 Antwerpen Team Sprint 2002 Copenhagen Team Sprint 2004 Melbourne Sprint 2006 Bordeaux Team Sprint
Infobox last updated on 4 April 2008

Ryan Neville Bayley OAM (born 9 March 1982) is an Australian professional track cyclist and double Olympic gold medallist.

Biography

Born in Perth, Western Australia, Bayley started competitive cycling in 1997 at fifteen years of age. He is a member of the Albany Cycling Club and employed by the Australian Institute of Sport.

Bayley won gold medals for the Sprint and Team Sprint track cycling events at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

His greatest success as a track cyclist came in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he won gold medals in the sprint and Keirin events.

Following Bayley's failure to win a medal at the World Cup round in Sydney in December 2007, he was criticized by Martin Barras, the national coach, for not developing his tactics. He was still employing the same final kick which achieved success in Athens, the opposition had learnt to attack early to counter this.^[2][3]

In February 2008, tension was brewing between Bayley and his rival for Olympic selection, Shane Perkins. Both were deemed by the judges to be riding improperly at the Australian National Track Championships. Bayley crashed when Perkins moved down on him during a race, burning a hole in the back of his skinsuit. The relationship between the two riders was given another dimension, when Perkins announced his engagement to Bayley's younger sister, Kristine Bayley.^[4]

Bayley was finally selected to ride at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, as Perkins had not competed in any Team Sprint events.^[5][6] Bayley qualified in 12th place in the sprint event and eventually finished 11th, he was eliminated from the Keirin in the second round, placing 8th overall; he blamed himself for poor tactics. Bayley was also a member of the Team Sprint squad along with Daniel Ellis and Mark French, they qualified for the final ride-off for the bronze medal. After a strong start, they faded and finished fourth, missing out on a medal by 0.008 of a second.^[7]

Bayley now lives in Brisbane with his wife Kristin, and their children, Aurora Rosalie Bayley (born November 2010) and Lincoln Jasper Ray Bayley (born August 2013).

Awards and honours

Bayley was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the 2005 Australia Day Honours List. Other awards include:

• 2000 Male Junior Cyclist of the Year
• 2000 Australian Male Junior Track Cyclist of the Year
• 2001 Australian Male Track Cyclist of the Year
• 2004 Australian Male Track Cyclist of the Year
• 2004 Australian Cyclist of the Year
• 2015 Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductee^[8]

Career highlights

2000

1st Sprint, World Track Championships - Junior

1st Team Sprint, World Track Championships - Junior

2001

1st Keirin, UCI Track Cycling World Championships

2nd Team Sprint, UCI Track Cycling World Championships

2nd Keirin, Moscow (RUS)

2nd Team Sprint, Moscow (RUS)

2002

1st Sprint, Commonwealth Games, Manchester

1st Team Sprint, Commonwealth Games, Manchester

2003

3rd Team Sprint, Cape Town (RSA)

2nd Kilo, Australian National Track Championships, Sydney

3rd Keirin, Sydney (AUS)

2nd Team Sprint, Sydney (AUS)

2004

3rd Sprint, World Track Championships

Sprint, Olympic Games

Keirin, Olympic Games

2005

1st Sprint, Oceania Games, Wanganui

1st Keirin, Oceania Games, Wanganui

2006

3rd Team Sprint, Los Angeles (US)

3rd Sprint, Australian National Track Championships, Adelaide

1st Keirin, Commonwealth Games, Melbourne

1st Sprint, Commonwealth Games, Melbourne

3rd Team Sprint, Commonwealth Games, Melbourne

3rd Team Sprint, World Track Championships, Bordeaux

2nd Keirin, World Cup, Sydney

2007

1st Sprint, Australian National Track Championships, Sydney

3rd Team Sprint, Australian National Track Championships, Sydney

3rd Team Sprint, World Cup, Manchester

1st Sprint, Oceania Cycling Championships, Invercargill

2nd Keirin, European Track Championships, Invercargill

1st Team Sprint, Oceania Cycling Championships, Invercargill

1st Team Sprint, Sydney (AUS)

2008

3rd Keirin, World Cup, Los Angeles

References

1. "Athlete Biography - BAYLEY Ryan". Beijing Olympics official website.
2. Rupert Guinness (3 December 2007). "New tactics needed by Olympic star". The AGE.
3. Leo Schlink (3 December 2007). "Barras warns sprint king to modify tactics". Herald Sun.
4. "Tension between Bayley and Perkins spills on to the track". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 February 2008.
5. "Shane Perkins update". shaneperkins.com. 5 July 2008.
6. "Aussies Kelly and O’Grady Line Up For Record Fifth Olympics in Beijing". 27 June 2008.
7. "Results: Men's Team Sprint Finals". Beijing Olympics official website.
8. "Daredevil Bayley makes his move into Hall of Fame". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.

External links

• Australian Cycling Federation Profile