Frederick Keeping (11 August 1867 – 21 February 1950) was a British

racing cyclist Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing ...

. He competed at the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Keeping competed in the 333 metres and 12 hours races. In the 12 hours race, Keeping was one of only two cyclists to finish, covering 314.664 kilometres. He was only one lap behind the winner,

Adolf Schmal Felix Adolf Schmal (18 September 1872 – 28 August 1919) was an Austrian fencer and racing cyclist. He was born in Dortmund and died in Salzburg. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. 1896 Olympics With a fencing mask, sabre ...

, who covered 314.997 kilometres. Keeping tied with two others for fifth place in the 333m, with 27.0 seconds.

Amateurism protests

He kept working as a

servant A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

at the

British Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Com ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. There were objections that he and another rider,

Edward Battell Edward Battell was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British racing cyclist. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Battell competed in the 333 metres, 100 kilometres, and road races. He came third in the road race, 87 ...

, worked for a living. That made them "not gentlemen so they could not possibly be amateurs." The historian Mike Price said: "Gentlemen were not paid so were true amateurs. Servants had to be paid and so lost any claims to being amateur. Such was the attitude of the day". The protests were overruled.Price, Mike (2000), Days of Gold and Glory, privately published, UK

Olympic 12-hour race

Six riders started the 12-hour race at 5am, four of them from

, and just two finished, "in total distress". Richard D. Mandell, in his book ''The First Modern Olympics'', wrote: "Neither had eaten and had only sipped liquid. They were squalid from excreta and delirious from fatigue... their legs swollen gruesomely... both could be heard weeping."

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

completed 900 laps of the

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate Track tran ...

to finish one lap ahead of Keeping. Rain and wind meant there were few spectators and those that were there lost interest because the race was "a monotonous sight."

Later life

After returning home to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, he opened a cycle shop in

Milford on Sea Milford on Sea, often hyphenated, is a large village or small town and a civil parish on the Hampshire coast. The parish had a population of 4,660 at the 2011 census and is centred about south of Lymington. Tourism and businesses for quite pr ...

, and later garages in

New Milton New Milton is a market town in southwest Hampshire, England. To the north is in the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. The town is equidistant between Lymington and Christchurch, 6 miles (10 km) away. History Ne ...

and

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

. He served as a member of Lymington District Council and Hampshire County Council.

Family

His son was

Michael Keeping Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping (22 August 1902 – 28 March 1984) was an English association football, footballer and coach (sport), manager. He coached Real Madrid CF from January 1948 to October 1950. His father was the Olympic medal winning c ...

, who played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and became manager of

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in Spain.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeping, Frederick 1867 births 1950 deaths Olympic cyclists of Great Britain Cyclists at the 1896 Summer Olympics 19th-century sportsmen English male cyclists Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in cycling People from Lymington Medalists at the 1896 Summer Olympics