Michael Colin Turtur (born 2 July 1958 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

) is a former

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

list in the 4000m Team Pursuit at the 1984 Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, with team members

Dean Woods Dean Anthony Woods OAM (22 June 1966 – 3 March 2022) was an Australian racing cyclist from Wangaratta in Victoria known for his track cycling at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. On Australia Day 1985 he was awarded the Order of A ...

Kevin Nichols Kevin John Nichols (born 4 July 1955 in Grafton, New South Wales) is a former track cyclist and Olympic gold medallist. His daughter, Kate Nichols, is a road racing cyclist.Michael Grenda Michael Ronald Grenda, OAM (born 24 April 1962) is a retired road bicycle and track cyclist from Australia, who represented his native country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There he won the gold medal in the men's 40 ...

, coached by

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 ...

. Michael Turtur has competed in the Olympic Games and three

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, winning a total of five medals. At the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games, he won two gold medals in the men’s 4000m teams and individual pursuits, and a bronze medal in the 10 mile scratch race. At the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games, he was the flag bearer for Australia and won a gold medal in the men’s 4000m team pursuit. Following his cycling career, Mr Turtur went on to share his knowledge and experience by becoming the

South Australian Institute of Sport Sport plays an important role in the business, community, social and cultural life in South Australia. Sport as entertainment plays an important role with South Australia having the second highest rate of event attendance of all states and terri ...

Cycling Coach for five years. From 1993 Michael Turtur was the manager and promoter of the

Adelaide Super-Drome The Adelaide Super-Drome is located at Adelaide, South Australia's State Sports Park, Main North Road, Gepps Cross. The Super-Drome was designed by Architect Carlo Gnezda and was opened in 1993. From 1993 the venue was managed and promoted by 1 ...

located in South Australia’s State Sports Park, which is the headquarters for the highly successful

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 ...

’s Women's and Men's Track Cycling Program. In 2011 he was a State Finalist in the

Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

. Michael Turtur was a television commentator for the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

during its Olympics coverage. In January 2018 Turtur was made an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO) for "distinguished service to cycling, particularly through the development and promotion of world-class road cycling events, and to the community of South Australia".

Australian Sports Commission Board

Michael Turtur is on 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 ...

Board with Mr John Wylie AM, Chair, Mr

David Gallop David Gallop is an Australian sports administrator, lawyer and served as the chief executive of the Football Federation Australia until December 2019. He previously served as the chief executive officer of the National Rugby League between Febr ...

(Deputy Chair), Glenys Beauchamp (ex-officio), Alisa Camplin OAM, Sally Carbon OAM, Liz Ellis AM, John Lee, Margaret Osmond, Andrew Plympton, Ken Ryan, and Kyle Vander-Kuyp.

Union Cycliste Internationale

Michael Turtur is on the UCI board on the Management Committee of the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

. He is also president and chair of the track commission.

Cycling teams

Michael Turtur was Section Manager of the 1994 Victoria, Canada, Commonwealth Games Cycling Team, the 1995 World Championships, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Tour Down Under

From the

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (branded as the Santos Tour Down Under under a partnership arrangement) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and features all 19 UCI WorldTe ...

's inception in 1999 by Michael Turtur, he has been its internationally recognized Race Director. Turtur officially handed over the reins of Race Director to

Stuart O'Grady Stuart O'Grady (born 6 August 1973) is a retired Australian professional road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 1995 and 2013. A former track cyclist, O'Grady and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in the Men's Madison at the 2004 S ...

at the end of 2020 race.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turtur, Michael 1958 births Living people Australian male cyclists Australian track cyclists Olympic cyclists of Australia Cyclists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Australia Cyclists from Adelaide Olympic medalists in cycling Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Cyclists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games South Australian Sports Institute coaches