Jason Paul Queally MBE[1] (born 11 May 1970) is an English track cyclist. He won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Jason Queally
MBE
Personal information
Full nameJason Paul Queally
Born (1970-05-11) 11 May 1970 (age 54)
Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England
Team information
DisciplineTrack
RoleRider
Medal record
Men's track cycling
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 1 km time trial
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Team sprint
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Los Angeles Team sprint
Silver medal – second place 1999 Berlin Team sprint
Silver medal – second place 2000 Manchester Team sprint
Silver medal – second place 2005 Los Angeles 1 km time trial
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Manchester 1 km Time Trial
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Antwerp Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Stuttgart Team sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Melbourne Team sprint
European Elite Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Pruszków Team pursuit
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 1998 Kuala Lumpur 1 km time trial
Silver medal – second place 2002 Manchester 1 km time trial
Silver medal – second place 2002 Manchester Team Sprint
Silver medal – second place 2006 Melbourne 1 km time trial
Silver medal – second place 2006 Melbourne Team Sprint

Early years

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Born at Great Haywood, Staffordshire, Queally spent his childhood in Caton, a village near Lancaster. He attended Caton County Primary School and Lancaster Royal Grammar School, where he was part of the swimming squad in the mid-1980s, later representing Lancaster and British Universities in water polo while a student at Lancaster University, where he earned a BSc in Biological Science. He took up cycle-racing at 25.

In 1996, he nearly died in an accident at Meadowbank cycling track in Edinburgh (Chris Hoy brought down all the riders behind him, having caught the wheel of Craig MacLean) when an 18-inch sliver of the wooden track entered his chest via his armpit. The accident seriously affected Queally's confidence in tactical racing; as a result, he no longer took part in the sprint events, instead choosing to dedicate himself to Kilo and team sprint riding, time trial events with a reduced risk of crashing.[2]

Post Sydney

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Queally was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours for services to cycling.[3]

In October 2001 he competed in the World Human Powered Speed Challenge[4] at Battle Mountain, Nevada on the Blueyonder recumbent bicycle,[5] built largely from carbon fibre by Reynard Motorsport to a design by Chris Field. Queally maintained 64.34 mph (103.55 km/h) over the 200m timed section of the course, a European record. The winner, Sam Whittingham, achieved 80.55 mph (129.63 km/h).

Although Olympic champion, Queally was not selected for the 1 km time trial at the 2004 Summer Olympics, competing only in the team sprint, in which Great Britain team was eliminated in the first round by Germany, the eventual winner, despite posting the second fastest time of the competition.

In 2009, Queally was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame.[6]

Queally retired from able-bodied cycling after failing to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[7] He subsequently worked with Paralympic cyclist Anthony Kappes with the aim of competing together on a tandem at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[8] However he returned to able-bodied competition when he received a call up to the British squad for the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.[7] After not being selected for the 2012 Summer Olympics he rejoined the British paralympic cycling squad as a pilot for the tandem events in November 2012.[9]

Medals in championships

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Midlands' Olympic legends: Jason Queally". ITV. 23 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. ^ Birnie, Lionel (17 March 2010). "The Big Interview: Jason Queally". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. ^ United Kingdom list: "No. 56070". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2000. p. 21.
  4. ^ "The Recumbent Bicycle and Human Powered Vehicle Information Center".
  5. ^ "Profile: The Blueyonder Challenger - Fastest Man On Earth - 4of6 The Big Launch". 20 August 2002. Archived from the original on 20 August 2002.
  6. ^ "50 Cycling Heroes Named in British Cycling's Hall of Fame". British Cycling. 17 December 2009. Archived from the original on 20 December 2009.
  7. ^ a b "Jason Queally named in Great Britain cycling squad". bbc.co.uk. 12 March 2010. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Queally eyes unique gold double". bbc.co.uk. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  9. ^ Hudson, Elizabeth (14 November 2012). "Jason Queally returns to GB Paralympic cycling squad". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
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