Harley Davidson (1881–1946) was an American athlete, famous as a roller speed skater. He was also an ice speed skater, cyclist, and competed in other exhibition sports in the early 20th Century. Skaters competing across multiple sports was common then. His name has no connection to the

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

brand of motorcycles. Though, in 1912 he made a promotional appearance at the Harley-Davidson factory in Milwaukee.

Biography

Davidson was born to a family of talented roller and ice skaters. He first roller skated in 1884 at the age of three. His sister, Mable Davidson, was also a professional skater. Harley Davidson started competitive skating on ice around 1892. He defeated

Joe Donoghue Joseph F. Donoghue (February 11, 1871 – April 1, 1921Paul J.de Loca, Encyclopedia of ethnicity and sports in the United States, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000) was an American speed skating, speed skater. He became the speed skating World Champ ...

in ice speed skating on the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. Davidson began to roller skate professionally in 1905. In the 1909 World Professional Championships held at Olympia Rink in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Davidson was among the 150 skaters who competed. He was among the five finalists who raced on February 26, drawing 14,000 spectators. For winning the championship, Davidson was awarded a diamond-studded medal and a first prize purse of $2,000 in gold. His time, 2 minutes and 51 seconds for a 1-mile race, is considered a world record at that time by ''The Complete Book of Roller Skating''. Though, because the sport was not yet centrally regulated, definitive records for the era are hard to determine. From 1909 to 1911, Harley Davidson raced in challenge matches in America, Canada, and Europe against the best speed skaters of his time. In 1911 he established a professional skating troupe. He won three races on one day, January 5, 1912, in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

. He skated a three-mile race in 9:15, one mile in 3:05, and two miles in 6:10. Davidson gradually retired from roller speed skating beginning in 1916, switching to " fancy skating" and dance exhibitions. Unlike other speed skaters, he did not have a

roller rink A roller rink is a hard surface usually consisting of hardwood or concrete, used for roller skating or inline skating. This includes roller hockey, speed skating, roller derby, and individual recreational skating. Roller rinks can be located i ...

management job to fall back on, so times proved hard for him financially. Though he had no relation to the increasingly-popular Harley-Davidson motorcycles, as his own fame diminished, he sometimes pretended that he did. He died in 1946 because of injuries suffered in an automobile accident.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Harley 1881 births 1946 deaths American roller skaters American male speed skaters