Lorne Atkinson (8 June 1921 – 23 April 2010) was a Canadian cyclist. He competed in four events at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

. Nicknamed "Ace", Atkinson spent his life involved in cycling in the Vancouver area.

Biography

Atkinson was born in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in 1921. Atkinson's father was a Scottish professional cyclist, with Atkinson competing in races from when he was a teenager. He soon earned the nickname "Ace" after winning a race and a newspaper printing a story with the headline of "City ace triumphs in Province Cup". He became a junior provincial champion in 1939, and would go on to win four senior provincial titles and two national titles. In 1946, Atkinson founded his business Ace's Cycles, which he ran for more than 60 years. At the

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 ...

, Atkinson competed in four events, two on the road and two on the

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. On the road, Atkinson rode in both the individual road race and the team road race, but did not finish in either event. On the track, he was eliminated in the first round of the team pursuit event, and finished in 15th place in the track time trial. Following the Olympics, Atkinson competed at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, and the

1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fi ...

in his hometown. He was also the captain of the Canadian team that finished in fourth place in the 10-mile scratch event at the 1954 Games. He was in charge of organising cycling events in Vancouver during the 1950s and 1960s, becoming the president of the Vancouver Bicycle Club in 1962. Five years later, he coached the Canadian team at the

1967 Pan American Games The 1967 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967. Winnipeg was chosen as host of the Pan American Games on its second try. It first bid for the 1963 Games at the 1959 PASO meeting in Chicago ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. Atkinson was inducted into the

BC Sports Hall of Fame The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in BC Place Stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia's spo ...

in 1997, was awarded with the

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

in 2002, and won the British Columbia Community Achievement Award in 2006. Just prior to his death, he was presented with the Olympic torch as part of the

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

for the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

. He died in April 2010 at the age of 88.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Lorne 1921 births 2010 deaths Canadian male cyclists Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada Cyclists at the 1950 British Empire Games Cyclists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Olympic cyclists of Canada Cyclists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian people