Rory Robert Schlein (born 1 September 1984)[1] is an Australian speedway rider.[2][3]
Career
editBorn in Darwin, Northern Territory, Schlein, lived in the southern Adelaide suburb of Hallett Cove and won the Australian Under-16 Championship at the Northline Speedway in his home town of Darwin in 2000.
Schlein was signed by the Edinburgh Monarchs in 2001 and won the Conference League championship that year while on loan at Sheffield Tigers. He won the Premier League championship with the Monarchs in 2003 and won the Australian Under-21 Speedway Championship in 2003 and 2004 and finished 2nd to Chris Holder in 2005. He also won the South Australian Championship in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
He first extended season in the highest British league was for Belle Vue Aces during the 2004 Elite League speedway season.[4] In 2005, he joined Coventry Bees and would go on to win the Elite League championship with the Bees in 2007. In between Schlein represented the Australia national speedway team at the 2006 and 2007 Speedway World Cup, where he won a bronze medal at the latter.[5]
He was with Coventry from 2005 to 2010 with short stints at Ipswich and Peterborough in between. In 2010, he rode for Australia in the World Cup again and in 2011 won a silver medal in the 2011 World Cup although he only rode in the rounds and not the final. Also in 2011, he joined Belle Vue again[6] and won the Elite League Riders' Championship, held at Abbey Stadium on 15 October.[7][8]
From 2013 to 2016 he rode for the King's Lynn Stars and won the League Riders' championship for a second time in October 2013.[9][10]
In May 2015, Schlein was seriously injured while riding for Orzeł Łódź in Poland, breaking two vertebrae and damaging his lung and kidney, ending his season and initially with concern that he could be paralysed.[11][12] His recovery was documented in the film Addicted To Speed: The Rory Schlein Story.[13] He returned to ride for King's Lynn Stars in 2016, but missed part of the early season with a shoulder injury, and after struggling to score well was dropped in August.[14]
For 2017 he signed for Ipswich Witches in the SGB Championship.[15]
He was part of the Somerset Rebels team that won the SGB Championship Fours, which was held on 23 June 2019, at the East of England Arena.[16]
In 2020, he won the 2020 British Speedway Championship at the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester. In 2021, he helped Poole secure the SGB Championship 2021 league and cup double.[17] He announced his retirement after the 2021 season.[18]
In 2023, he returned to speedway signing for Wolves for the SGB Premiership 2023, he had previously ridden for them from 2017 to 2021.[19] He also signed for Berwick Bandits for the SGB Championship 2023 and won the South Australian Championship for the fifth time.[17] [18]
Schlein's 2024 season ended early after he sustained a fractured neck vertebrae and broken scapular at Scunthorpe.[20]
Family
editHe is the son of the 1974 Northern Territory solo champion Lyndon Schlein.[citation needed]
Major results
editSpeedway World Cup
edit- 2006 Speedway World Cup - 4th
- 2007 Speedway World Cup - bronze
- 2010 Speedway World Cup - 5th
- 2011 Speedway World Cup - silver
Individual Under-21 World Championship
edit- 2004 -
Wrocław, Olympic Stadium - 4th - 8pts (fell in the Final)
References
edit- ^ Oakes, Peter (2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6.
- ^ "Rory Schlein". WWOS backup. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ "Belle Vue Aces sign Australian Rory Schlein - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "2007 WORLD TEAM CUP". International Speedway. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "Rory Schlein roars on", Manchester Evening News, 26 October 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2017
- ^ "Elite League Riders' Championship". WWOS Backup. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "SCHLEIN WINS ELRC". Birmingham Speedway. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "Results: Saturday October 19", speedwaygb.co, 19 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013
- ^ "SPEEDWAY: Rory Schlein wins Elite League Riders' Championship at Swindon for second time". Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard. 20 October 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ Chard, Henry (2015) "Rory Schlein on his crash and his road to recovery", Sky Sports, 8 July 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2017
- ^ "Rory Schlein: Speedway rider feared paralysis after Poland crash", BBC, 26 June 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2017
- ^ "King's Lynn speedway star's crash recovery hits the big screen", Lynn News, 21 April 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017
- ^ "King's Lynn Stars axe Rory Schlein and re-sign Nicklas Porsing", Wymondham and Attleborough Mercury, 26 August 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017
- ^ Bacon, Mike (2016) "Signing for Ipswich was a ‘no brainer’ admits new boy Schlein", Ipswich Star, 29 November 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017
- ^ "Speedway: Somerset win Championship Fours". Weston Mercury. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Schlein and Coles complete Bandits". British Speedway. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- ^ a b "SCHLEIN'S PERFECT WEEKEND". British Speedway. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
- ^ "Schlein heads back to Wolves". British Speedway. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
- ^ "Berwick in crisis". Speedway Star. 15 June 2024. p. 46.