James “Martin” Vinnicombe (born 5 December 1964) is a former professional Australian track cyclist who competed at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, winning a silver medal in time trial. He tested positive for steroids in 1991, but accusations were overturned and Vinnicombe received $240,000 in compensation for false allegations in defamation. His former manager, Phill Bates, told the '' Sydney Morning Herald'' in 1996: "If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying." At 22 years of age, Vinnicombe won the world championship in time trial in 1987, being the first ever Australian to become world champion, He also won the silver medal three times (1986, 1989 and 1990) and the bronze medal once (1985). Vinnicombe has placed 9 times at the world championships in 1,000m time trial event. As part of the lead up to the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Vinnicombe had been selected to be in charge of coaching Chinese cyclists in the

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

province, but in 2005 was banned from the country for four years and fined after one of his cyclists tested positive for steroids but was overturned and received compensation for false charges, Vinnicombe denied any wrongdoing. In 2012 he was offered to be in the cycling hall of fame.

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* * * 1964 births Living people Australian male cyclists Cyclists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Cyclists from Melbourne UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Olympic medalists in cycling Doping cases in Australian cycling Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Australian track cyclists Cyclists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from Victoria (state) {{australia-Olympic-medalist-stub