Callum Skinner

Callum Skinner

Skinner at the 2012 Herne Hill Good Friday meeting
Personal information
Born (1992-08-20) 20 August 1992
Glasgow, Scotland
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 93 kg (205 lb)
Team information
Discipline Track
Role Rider
Rider type Sprinter
Infobox last updated on
14 August 2016

Callum Skinner (born 20 August 1992) is a British track cyclist. He won the silver medal in the individual sprint at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and was a member of the British team that won gold in the team sprint.

Early life

Skinner was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He moved to Bruntsfield, Edinburgh at the age of 12 and attended James Gillespie's High School. He took up cycling in 2004, inspired by Chris Hoy's success in the sport at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.[1]

In 2008 he was national youth champion[2] and broke Hoy's British 200 m record for his age group. Later that year he was the inaugural winner of the Chris Hoy Trophy,[1] an award presented to Edinburgh's most promising young track cyclist,[3] and received the award from Hoy himself.[1]

Career

Skinner competed representing Scotland in the team sprint at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, finishing fourth.[4] He did not get the opportunity to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London due to a lump in his neck in late 2011 which doctors initially thought was lymphoma. Biopsies later proved that the lump was not cancerous but the scare had caused him to take time away from the sport.[5][6]

In 2014 he once again represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.[7] He came to prominence at the 2014 British National Track Championships, winning a clean sweep of four national sprint titles.[8] In October 2014, he became European champion in the 1 km time trial.[9]

In January 2016 Skinner was a member of the team that won the overall title for the men's team sprint at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Hong Kong.[10] In March he finished eighth in the individual sprint in the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London.[2]

At the 2016 Summer Olympics he was part of the team that won gold in the men's team sprint along with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny, setting an Olympic record of 42.440 in the final against New Zealand.[11] He won the silver medal in the men's individual sprint, beating Matthew Glaetzer 2–0 in the semi-final[6] but he was beaten 2–0 by defending champion Kenny in an all-British final.[12]

Palmarès

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Callum Skinner: From racing at Meadowbank to Olympic glory". Edinburgh Evening News. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Who is Callum Skinner, Britain's new star sprinter?". Cycling Weekly. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Chris Hoy: Velodrome threat will make trophy meaningless". The Scotsman. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Swarbrick, Susan (20 July 2014). "Cycling: Callum Skinner gets a second bite at the cherry". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  5. ↑ Swarbrick, Susan (29 March 2014). "Fashion: cyclist Callum Skinner and wheelchair racer Samantha Kinghorn". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  6. 1 2 Pidd, Helen (14 August 2016). "Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner to battle for individual sprint cycling gold". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Callum Skinner". Glasgow 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Rentton, Colin (27 September 2014). "Callum Skinner strikes gold in Manchester". Edinburgh Evening News.
  9. ↑ "European Track Championships: Tennant & Skinner win golds". BBC Sport. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "UCI Track Cycling World Cup: performances full of promise". Union Cycliste Internationale. 17 January 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Rio Olympics 2016: Great Britain win third straight team sprint gold". BBC Sport. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  12. ↑ "Rio Olympics 2016: Jason Kenny beats Callum Skinner to win back-to-back Olympic titles". BBC Sport. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "Track Cycling World Cup: Laura Trott in GB team to win gold". BBC Sport. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.

External links

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