Daniel "Danny" Clark OAM (born 30 August 1951Site du Cyclisme, Rider database, Danny Clark
/ref> in

George Town, Tasmania George Town ( Palawa_kani: ''kinimathatakinta'') is a large town in north-east Tasmania, on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Tamar River. The Australian Bureau of Statistics records the George Town Municipal Area had a population of 6,764 a ...

, Australia) is a retired

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 ...

and road bicycle racer from Australia, who was a professional rider from 1974 to 1997. He won five world championships and at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, came second in the 1,000m time trial. Clark was often fastest finishing rider in six-day races, especially as

Patrick Sercu Patrick Sercu (27 June 1944 – 19 April 2019) was a Belgian cyclist who was active on the road and track between 1961 and 1983. On track, he won the gold medal in the 1 km time trial at the 1964 Summer Olympics, as well as three world titl ...

slowed after the mid-1970s. Clark and the British rider, Tony Doyle, won many six-day races. Clark enjoyed the party atmosphere of the races, and continued to work in them as a

Derny A Derny is a motorized bicycle for motor-paced cycling events such as during six-day and Keirin racing and motor-paced road races. Some riders train behind a derny on the road. The Derny is so-called as it was originally produced by the Fren ...

pacer after retiring.

Biography

Clark began cycling on a bike borrowed from a local enthusiast, which he used for three months before acquiring his eldest brother's semi-racer.Licorice Gallery, Interview with Danny Clark
/ref> He became one of the most successful riders in

six-day racing Six-day cycling is a track cycling event that competes over six days. Six-day races started in Britain, spread to many regions of the world, were brought to their modern style in the United States and are now mainly a European event. Initially, ...

in the 1970s and 1980s, winning 74 races, second to Patrick Sercu's 88. Most of these wins came after a crash in the 1983

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

six-day which broke his hip. Clark still carries a plate inserted to help the fracture heal and said that when sprinting or climbing, only his right leg delivered full power. Clark won the Australian one-mile penny-farthing championship in Evandale, Tasmania, in 1989, beating the Briton Doug Pinkerton and Matthew Driver.Canberra Bicycle Museum, Article about Danny Clark sourced from "Freewheel" Issue 11, New Zealand
He lives in Surfers Paradise, near

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Major results

Olympic Games

Munich 1972 The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

: ** Silver kilomètre

World championships

* Besançon 1980: ** Arc en ciel

Keirin – literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gambling ...

* Brno 1981: ** Arc en ciel

Keirin ** Silver, points * Leicester 1982: ** Silver, keirin * Zurich 1983: ** Silver, keirin * Bassano del Grappa 1985: ** Silver,

Motor-paced Motor-paced racing and motor-paced cycling refer to cycling behind a pacer in a car or more usually on a motorcycle. The cyclist (or stayer in this case) follows as close as they can to benefit from the slipstream of their pacer. The first paced ...

* Vienna 1987: ** Silver, motor-paced * Ghent 1988: ** Arc en ciel

Motor-paced * Maebashi 1990: ** Bronze, motor-paced ** Bronze, points * Stuttgart 1991: ** Arc en ciel

Motor-paced

Six-days

* Nouméa: 1972 with Malcom Hill * Sydney: 1974 with Frank Atkins * Ghent: 1976, 1979, 1982 with

Don Allan Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON * Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a v ...

, 1986 with Tony Doyle, 1987, 1994 with

Etienne De Wilde Etienne De Wilde (born 23 March 1958 in Wetteren, East Flanders) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer. De Wilde won races on the road and on the track. He won a silver medal in the madison at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Major resu ...

, 1990 with

Roland Günther Roland Günther (born 11 December 1962) is a German cyclist. He won the bronze medal in the team pursuit along with Rolf Gölz, Reinhard Alber and Michael Marx in the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of t ...

* Münster: 1977, 1980 with Don Allan, 1988 with Tony Doyle * Rotterdam: 1977, 1978, 1985 with

René Pijnen Marinus "René" Augustinus Josephus Pijnen (born 3 September 1946) is a Dutch former racing cyclist. He became Olympic champion in the 100 km team time-trial in the 1968 Summer Olympics with Joop Zoetemelk, Fedor den Hertog and Jan Kreke ...

, 1981 with Don Allan, 1986 with

Francesco Moser Francesco Moser ( or ; ; born 19 June 1951), nicknamed "Lo sceriffo" (The sheriff), is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of the Giro d'Italia six times including his win in the 1984 edition. Moser wa ...

, 1987 with

Pierangelo Bincoletto Pierangelo Bincoletto (born 14 March 1959) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist. He rode in two editions of the Tour de France and seven editions of the Giro d'Italia. He also competed in two events at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Majo ...

, 1988 with Tony Doyle * Antwerp: 1978 with

Freddy Maertens Freddy Maertens (born 13 February 1952) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist who was twice world road race champion. His career coincided with the best years of another Belgian rider, Eddy Merckx, and supporters and reporters were sp ...

, 1987 with

* London: 1978, 1980 with Don Allan * Copenhagen: 1978 with Don Allan, 1986, 1987 with Tony Doyle, 1989, 1992 with Urs Freuler, 1990, 1991 with

Jens Veggerby Jens Veggerby (born 20 October 1962) is a retired Danish cyclist. During his professional career that spanned 15 years from 1984 to 1999 he competed in 89 six-day races and won 13 of them: in Copenhagen (1989, 1991, 1993 and 1997), Antwerp (1992 ...

, 1995 with

Jimmi Madsen Jimmi Madsen (born 4 January 1969) is a Danish former cyclist who raced professionally from 1993 to 2004. He rode for Denmark on the track in four Olympic Games: 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. He won the bronze medal in the Men's team pursuit in ...

* Herning: 1978, 1982 with Don Allan * Bremen: 1979 with René Pijnen, 1987 with

Dietrich Thurau Dietrich ("Didi") Thurau (; born 9 November 1954 in Frankfurt) is a retired German professional road bicycle racer. His biggest career achievements include winning the one-day classic, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, his home country's Deutschland ...

, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1990 with Roland Günther, 1994 with

Andreas Kappes Andreas Kappes (23 December 1965 – 31 July 2018) was a German cyclist, who was a professional from 1987 to 2009, active on the road and on the track, collecting in total 133 wins, and, as an amateur, represented West Germany at the 1984 Summe ...

* Maastricht: 1979 with Don Allan, 1984 with René Pijnen, 1985, 1987 with Tony Doyle * Hannover: 1980 with Don Allan * Cologne: 1980 with René Pijnen, 1985 with Dietrich Thurau, 1989 with Tony Doyle * Munich: 1980, 1981 with Don Allan, 1986 with Dietrich Thurau, 1988, 1990 with Tony Doyle * Grenoble: 1980 with

Bernard Thévenet Bernard Thévenet (; born 10 January 1948) is a retired professional cyclist. His sporting career began with ACBB Paris. He is twice a winner of the Tour de France and known for ending the reign of five-times Tour champion Eddy Merckx, though bo ...

, 1989 with

Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (born 25 August 1954) is a former French professional road racing cyclist who was a specialist at one-day classic cycling races. He raced from 1977 to 1995, one of the best French riders of a generation that included Ber ...

* Dortmund: 1982 with

Henry Rinklin Henry Rinklin (born 15 September 1957) is a German former professional track and road cyclist. Major results Track ;1975 : 1st Points race, UCI Junior Track World Championships ;1977 : 2nd Team pursuit, UCI Amateur Track World Championships ; ...

, 1983, 1986, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1987 with Roman Hermann, 1991, 1995 with

Rolf Aldag Rolf Aldag (born 25 August 1968 in Beckum, West Germany) is a former professional road bicycle racer who rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 2005. He raced in 10 Tour de France, 1 Giro d'Italia and 5 Vuelta a España. Prior to joining Telekom, ...

* Berlin: 1983, 1986, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1984 with

Horst Schütz Horst Schütz (born 8 May 1951 in Kandel) is a retired German cyclist who won the UCI Motor-paced World Championships in 1984. Background Schütz was a versatile cyclist. In 1975 he won two national titles among amateurs in madison and in team t ...

, 1985 with

Hans-Henrik Ørsted Hans-Henrik Ørsted (born 13 December 1954 in Grenå) is a Danish former professional track cyclist and multi-medalist in the Olympics and World Championships at pursuit. He raced in many indoor Six-day racing events in Europe. He turned prof ...

* Bassano del Grappa: 1986 with Roberto Amadio and Francesco Moser, 1988 with Francesco Moser, 1989 with

Adriano Baffi Adriano Baffi (born 7 August 1962) is a former Italian bicycle road racer. After his career as a rider, he became a team director. He is the son of Italian bicycle racer Pierino Baffi. Baffi was born in Vailate, Italy. He joined Luxembourg te ...

* Launceston: 1986 with Tony Doyle * Paris: 1986 with

Bernard Vallet Bernard Vallet (born January 18, 1954 in Vienne, Isère) is a French former road bicycle racer who won the mountains classification in the 1982 Tour de France. From 2003 to 2011, Bernard Vallet was the analyst of the Tour de France on Canal Ev ...

, 1988 with Tony Doyle * Stuttgart: 1989 with

Uwe Bolten Uwe or UWE may refer to * Uwe (given name) * University of the West of England, Bristol * UML-based web engineering * University Würzburg's Experimental miniaturized satellites for space research UWE-1 and UWE-2 UWE-2 (University Würzburg's E ...

, 1992 with Pierangelo Bincoletto, 1995 with Etienne De Wilde *

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

: 1993 with

Marcelo Alexandre Marcelo Alexandre (born 22 January 1963) is an Argentine former cyclist. He competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly ...

* Nouméa: 2000 with

Graeme Brown Graeme Allen Brown OAM (born 9 April 1979) is an Australian former professional cyclist, who competed professionally between 2002 and 2016 for the , and teams. A former Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder, Brown's greatest suc ...

European championships

* Omnium 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 * Derny 1985, 1986, 1990 * Motor-paced 1988 * Madison 1979 with Don Allan, 1988 with Tony Doyle

Honours

Clark received a Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

in 1986 and was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

in 1987. He received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

and a Centenary Medal in 2001.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Daniel 1951 births Living people Australian male cyclists Australian track cyclists Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Cyclists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Cyclists from Tasmania Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Australia Olympic medalists in cycling Olympic silver medalists for Australia People from George Town, Tasmania Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Recipients of the Centenary Medal Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men)