Craig MacLean

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey ( gd, Baile nan Granndach) is a town in the Highland Council Area, Counties of Scotland, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairng ...

, July 31, 1971) is a Scottish

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

who has represented

Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney and the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens, winning a silver medal in the Team Sprint at the 2000 Olympics. As a sighted guide, MacLean returned to the sport in its Paralympic form, piloting

Neil Fachie Neil Michael Fachie (born 12 March 1984) is a Scottish Paralympic multiple sports athlete competing in events for individuals with a visual impairment. Fachie has entered two Paralympics, as a sprinter in the 2008 Games in Beijing and as a ta ...

to two gold medals in the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, and Anthony Kappes to a gold medal in the

2012 Paralympic Games The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

. MacLean is only the second athlete, after Hungarian fencer

Pál Szekeres Pál Szekeres (born 22 September 1964) is a retired Hungarian foil and sabre fencer. He has the distinction of being the first person to have won medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

, ever to win medals at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. MacLean has also won medals in five

UCI Track World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

in the team Sprint, Silver in 1999, Silver in 2000, Bronze in 2001, Gold in 2002, Bronze in 2003 and Bronze in 2004. MacLean also won a bronze medal for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in the Team sprint at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

, followed by a gold medal in the event at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

in Australia. Having returned to the Paralympic form of the sport as a guide to

, he won a further two golds at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

in, and for, his native Scotland; in the Commonwealth Games, certain para-cycling events are integrated as full medal events into the programme. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

for services to cycling.

Career

Born in

, MacLean kicked off his cycling career as second man in the Great Britain Team Sprint until switching to lead man in 2002. He broke the GB kilometre record at the Olympic Trials in 2004. MacLean's career as a member of the British elite team came to a close in 2008. He suffered from a mystery illness ( later diagnosed as Coeliac disease) for the majority of his career so could no longer perform at the level required. This, coupled with the form of rising stars like

Jason Kenny Sir Jason Francis Kenny, (born 23 March 1988) is an English former track cyclist, specialising in the individual and team sprints. Kenny is the holder of most Olympic gold medals (7) and medals (9) for a British athlete. His wife, Laura Kenn ...

and resurgence of fellow veteran Jamie Staff, meant that he narrowly missed out on the squad for the World Championships and Olympic games. MacLean declared that the Manchester round of the World Cup Classics in November 2008 was his last ride as a UCI accredited rider. In the World Cup round he competed in the Keirin and Sprint for the Plowman Craven Trade team. He won his Keirin heat but was relegated by the officials. In the sprint he qualified in the top 5 but lost in the first round after a controversial move by his German opponent. He sat out international competition for two years from 2008 to 2010, the mandatory requirement to become a pilot for para-cycling tandem racing. At the 2011 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, MacLean piloted

to golds in the Tandem B Sprint and Tandem B 1000m Time Trial. In 2012, he switched to piloting Anthony Kappes, with

Barney Storey Richard Barnaby "Barney" Storey MBE (born 13 March 1977) is a British cyclist. He rides as a sighted pilot for blind or partially sighted athletes in tandem track cycling events. He competed at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games and won ...

piloting Fachie; the move was a success for both tandems, as each tandem team won a gold medal at the

. In doing so, MacLean became only the second athlete to win medals at both Olympic and Paralympic Games. While sitting out international competition, he continued to make some racing appearances at the Revolution events in Manchester. He appeared at Revolution 22 in December 2008, competing in the Sprint and Keirin events. MacLean reunited with Neil Fachie for the

in Glasgow, where the pairing won gold in the kilo time trial. They followed this up with another gold in the sprint where they came back from losing their first ride in the final to beat the Australian duo of

Kieran Modra Kieran John Modra (27 March 1972 – 13 November 2019) was an Australian Paralympic swimmer and tandem cyclist. He won five gold and five bronze medals at eight Paralympic Games from 1988 to 2016, along with two silver medals at the 2014 Gla ...

and

Jason Niblett Jason Niblett (born 18 February 1983 in Horsham, Victoria) is an Australian professional racing cyclist. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. Niblett served as pilot to Kieran Modra at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Gla ...

2–1.

Television and Media

In 2007 MacLean had an experimental documentary made about him called ''Standing Start'' made by BAFTA winner Adrian McDowall and Finlay Pretsell. The film documents MacLean in his build up to the World Cup team sprint win in 2007. The film has screened worldwide and premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. In November 2008 Craig took up the challenge of becoming a

Bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

competitor for the BBC programme 'Bobsleigh Challenge', which was broadcast in February 2009. This programme challenged Craig and fellow British sportsmen

Jason Gardener Jason Carl Gardener, (born 18 September 1975) is a retired British sprint athlete. A fast starter from the blocks, he won an Olympic gold medal leading off Great Britain in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2004 Olympic Games, and is also the ...

Dean Macey Dean Macey (born 12 December 1977) is an English athlete from Canvey Island. He is best known for competing in the decathlon, which he did from 1995 to 2008, winning the Commonwealth Games decathlon, two World Championship medals, as well as twic ...

and

Dan Luger Daniel Darko Luger MBE (born 11 January 1975) is a former English rugby union international who was a member of the squad that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Rugby career Club career Dan Luger was born in Chiswick and is the son of a Croat ...

to qualify for the British Championships in Italy, with only 10 days training. Craig teamed up with Luger as one team, while Macey and Gardener made up the other team. After training the teams had to complete two runs down the course without crashing to qualify. After a number of crashes, when both Craig and Dan were driving, both did qualify. However a number further crashes and injuries sustained by Craig meant that they did not complete two runs in the actual competition and were not classified. Just qualifying for the event with only 10 days training was still a remarkable achievement. The other team of Macey and Gardener went one better and finished 6th overall in the competition, ahead of one of the Great Britain Olympic Development teams. Craig is featured alongside Chris Hoy in a book by Richard Moore, ''Heroes, Villains and Velodromes: Chris Hoy and Britain's Track Cycling Revolution''. This describes how Maclean and Hoy were key figures in the rise of British Track Cycling. The book was published in June 2008 by

Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

. () In 2009, he was inducted into the

British Cycling Hall of Fame The British Cycling Hall of Fame was established in 2009 as part of British Cycling's 50th anniversary celebrations. On 17 December 2009, the names of fifty one people involved in cycling to be inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame wer ...

Major results

;1999 :2nd Team sprint, Track World Championships ;2000 :2nd Team Sprint,

:2nd Team sprint, Track World Championships ;2001 :3rd Team sprint, Track World Championships ;2002 :1st Team sprint, Track World Championships :3rd Team sprint,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

;2003 :3rd Team sprint, Track World Championships :1st Kilo,

British National Track Championships The British National Track Championships are held annually and organised by British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation). The main events are various track cycling disciplines for elite athletes to determine the British national cha ...

:1st Team sprint,

;2004 :3rd Team sprint, Track World Championships :2nd Team sprint, Round 1, Moscow, 2004 Track World Cup :1st Kilo, Round 3, Manchester, 2004 Track World Cup :1st Team sprint, Round 3, Manchester, 2004 Track World Cup :1st Sprint, Round 4, Sydney, 2004 Track World Cup :1st Team sprint, Round 4, Sydney, 2004 Track World Cup ;2005 :1st Team sprint, Round 3, Manchester, 2004–2005 Track World Cup :2nd Sprint, Round 1, Moscow, 2006–2007 Track World Cup :2nd Team sprint, Round 1, Moscow, 2006–2007 Track World Cup :1st Team sprint, Round 2, Manchester, 2006–2007 Track World Cup :1st Sprint,

;2006 :1st Team sprint,

:2nd Sprint, Track World Championships :2nd Team sprint, Track World Championships :1st Sprint, Round 1, Sydney, 2006–2007 Track World Cup :1st Team sprint, Round 1, Sydney, 2006–2007 Track World Cup :3rd Sprint, Round 2, Moscow, 2006–2007 Track World Cup :1st Team sprint, Round 2, Moscow, 2006–2007 Track World Cup :1st Sprint,

:1st Team sprint,

;2007 :2nd Masters of Sprint :1st Team sprint, Round 4, Manchester, 2006–2007 Track World Cup

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Craig Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Scotland Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain People from Badenoch and Strathspey Scottish male cyclists 1971 births Living people Olympic medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic sighted guides Sportspeople from Highland (council area) Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Scottish track cyclists Paralympic medalists in cycling Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic cyclists of Great Britain Scottish Olympic medallists

Career

Television and Media

Major results

See also

References

External links