Lucy Tyler-Sharman (born Lucy Tyler, in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

on 6 June 1965) is an Australian Olympic and World Champion cyclist.''W.A. Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet. (2006) Published by the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. Previously, if elite athletes from Western Australian needed to train or ...

. pp. 127-128 As a junior, Tyler was a gifted sportswoman, focussing on

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

at junior high school and later

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

s. She moved into

criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time ...

events while living in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and in 1988 made the move to

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 ...

events. In 1990 she trained and raced in Australia, initially living in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. During this period she married track rider

Martin Vinnicombe James “Martin” Vinnicombe (born 5 December 1964) is a former professional Australian track cyclist who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, winning a silver medal in time trial. He tested positive for steroids in 1991, but ac ...

. The pair were training at the Trexlertown Velodrome facility in Pennsylvania in 1991, when Canadian drug testers at the request of their Australian counterparts recorded a positive drug test for Martin Vinnicombe. This ended Martin's career but the following year Lucy took up Australian residency and in the 1993 national championships in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

represented the state winning the sprint and 10 km scratch race. In 1994 she won an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

scholarship as a sprinter and represented Australia in the World Championships in

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finishing fourth. The following year she competed in the World championships in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

recording ninth place in the individual pursuit and 19th in the sprint. She married Western Australian cyclist

Graham Sharman Graham John Sharman (born 30 May 1938) is an English former first-class cricketer and squash player. Sharman was born in May 1938 at St Pancras. He was educated at Lancing College, where he was coached in cricket by Kenneth Shearwood. From Lan ...

in May 1995 and moved to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

National coach

Charlie Walsh David Barry Vivian Walsh, , better known as Charlie Walsh, is an Australian former racing cyclist, cycling coach and academic. Racing career Walsh's placings in Australian Amateur and then Professional Championships were : 1st place - once 2nd ...

convinced her to move to full-time track endurance events in December 1995. An expected good result at the February 1996 national titles in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

were derailed when she suffered a severe asthma attack during the points race. She was subsequently beaten by

Kathy Watt Kathryn ("Kathy") Ann Watt (born 11 September 1964) is an Australian racing cyclist who won two medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain (gold in the road race, and silver in the pursuit). She has won 24 national championships i ...

in the 3000m individual pursuit. Shortly after, Watt was given a guarantee that she would ride in the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, with a proviso that the selection would be reviewed if another Australian rider posted a world-class time in the lead-up. Tyler-Sharman obliged during training in Germany by improving on Watts' 3000m national record by 5 seconds and moving to within 0.2 seconds of the world record. Watt was subsequently replaced by Tyler-Sharman, and a controversial legal battle ensued in which Watt was reinstated by appeal. Watt managed eighth in Atlanta while Tyler-Sharman watched from the stands. She missed selection in the pursuit, but did however compete in the 24 km points race, winning bronze. The World Championships in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in late 1996 saw her set a world record in qualifying and win silver in the final behind

Marion Clignet Marion Clignet (born 21 February 1964) is a French former track cyclist. Clignet was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 22 and was shunned by the United States Cycling Federation, and she subsequently raced for France since 1991. She rode at ...

. Further national and international meets included winning the individual pursuit and time trials at the 1997 Oceania Championships in 1997, and winning a second national pursuit title. In Canada in 1998 she won pursuit and points races and she won gold in the pursuit in the World Cup in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In the 1998 World Championships in Bordeaux she posted the fastest time in qualifying for the pursuit and in the final managed a time of 3:35.25 becoming the world champion. At the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

she was beaten in her individual pursuit semi-final ride after which she launched a public verbal tirade against team management and

, suggesting that her prospects had been sabotaged by being forced to use unfamiliar pedals. The outburst saw her sent home, unable to compete in the ride-off for bronze. Tyler-Sharman is the only Australian athlete ever sent home from a Commonwealth Games meet. In the lead-up to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as Sp ...

controversially funded her return to competition to compete at the National Track Titles. She now coaches in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

under her maiden name, Lucy Kirkpatrick Stansbury Tyler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler-Sharman, Lucy 1965 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Australian female cyclists Olympic cyclists of Australia Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Cyclists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Olympic medalists in cycling UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women) Australian track cyclists Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia