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''THE 'ALL BROKEN' RECORD-BREAKER!''
Quite Rightly: Graeme Obree's is the kind of story that is the essence of sporting heroism:
In July 1993, in Norway,he claimed the world Hour Record, the Blue Ribband event of cycling, with a distance of 51.596 km. The Fench Newspaper L'Equipe headlined with ''L'Incroyable Mister Obree''.Well done, you might say. Wait for the facts. Obree smashed the nine-year old record on a bike he made from a piece of scrap he found at the side of the A78 and part of a broken washing machine.
He christened the bike ''Old Faithful'' and adopted a new riding position -a right angled crouch, with elbows tucked in to the side as though attempting a push-up -that was so successful that the ''Obree Position'' was imitated by rivals before being banned by the UCI in 1994.
From that point, if you will excuse the analogy, the wheels came off. His problematic relationship with authority in general, and the UCI in particular, failed to improve. He was disqualified when he went to defend his 4000m single pursuit world title in Sicily for ''the pressing of the chest into the handlebar''; he lost his brother in a car accident; qualified for the Atlanta Olympics but had to quit due to illness; succumbed to alcohol addiction; threatened the rest of the British Team on a flight back from Australia; cut his bikes to pieces with a hacksaw and attempted to hang himself with a zip-ties in December 2001.
He was only saved by his enormous 6 Liter lung capacity and because he was discovered by a teenage girl.
Without a second thought he is one of the greatest British Cyclists never to win a gold medal. And he has always been outsider. Which, is their loss because he is one of the most awe-inspiring person of his time. In a just world, he would be as decorated as Hoy and as rich as Armstrong.
But then he is, by his own admission , ''difficult''.
Ten years ago, he found himself sucking water from a puddle near Geneva Airport. After swallowing 50 aspirins in an attempt to kill himself, he suddenly found that he had a merciless thirst. Fighting back the vomit, he popped more pain killers.
He was sectioned after Geneva. There had been suicide attempts before and there would be others after. He wrote about them all in his ugly, honest and brilliant autobiography, The Flying Scotsman.
Obree's lust for Life and his driving desire to succeed always took center stage. For sure, in some deep recesses of his mind. Such is human complexity.
Goog Night & God Bless!
Quite Rightly: Graeme Obree's is the kind of story that is the essence of sporting heroism:
In July 1993, in Norway,he claimed the world Hour Record, the Blue Ribband event of cycling, with a distance of 51.596 km. The Fench Newspaper L'Equipe headlined with ''L'Incroyable Mister Obree''.Well done, you might say. Wait for the facts. Obree smashed the nine-year old record on a bike he made from a piece of scrap he found at the side of the A78 and part of a broken washing machine.
He christened the bike ''Old Faithful'' and adopted a new riding position -a right angled crouch, with elbows tucked in to the side as though attempting a push-up -that was so successful that the ''Obree Position'' was imitated by rivals before being banned by the UCI in 1994.
From that point, if you will excuse the analogy, the wheels came off. His problematic relationship with authority in general, and the UCI in particular, failed to improve. He was disqualified when he went to defend his 4000m single pursuit world title in Sicily for ''the pressing of the chest into the handlebar''; he lost his brother in a car accident; qualified for the Atlanta Olympics but had to quit due to illness; succumbed to alcohol addiction; threatened the rest of the British Team on a flight back from Australia; cut his bikes to pieces with a hacksaw and attempted to hang himself with a zip-ties in December 2001.
He was only saved by his enormous 6 Liter lung capacity and because he was discovered by a teenage girl.
Without a second thought he is one of the greatest British Cyclists never to win a gold medal. And he has always been outsider. Which, is their loss because he is one of the most awe-inspiring person of his time. In a just world, he would be as decorated as Hoy and as rich as Armstrong.
But then he is, by his own admission , ''difficult''.
Ten years ago, he found himself sucking water from a puddle near Geneva Airport. After swallowing 50 aspirins in an attempt to kill himself, he suddenly found that he had a merciless thirst. Fighting back the vomit, he popped more pain killers.
He was sectioned after Geneva. There had been suicide attempts before and there would be others after. He wrote about them all in his ugly, honest and brilliant autobiography, The Flying Scotsman.
Obree's lust for Life and his driving desire to succeed always took center stage. For sure, in some deep recesses of his mind. Such is human complexity.
Goog Night & God Bless!
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