Olga Kevelos (6 November 1923 – 28 October 2009) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Motorcycle trials Motorcycle trials, also known as observed trials, often called simply trial/s (with or without the plural "s"), is a non-speed event on specialized motorcycles. The sport is most popular in the United Kingdom and Spain, though there are participan ...

and enduro rider who won a Gold Medal at the International Six-Day Trial.Obituary for Olga Kevelos
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 26 November 2009.

Early life

Olga Kevelos was born on 6 November 1923 in

Edgbaston, Birmingham Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

, to a Greek Father and English mother. Her father worked in the Birmingham Stock Exchange. She was educated at

King Edward VI High School for Girls King Edward VI High School for Girls ''(KEHS)'' () is an independent secondary school in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1883. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and occupies the same ...

where she excelled at Metallury and astronomy. She then studied Metallurgy, and at the beginning of the Second World War, worked in the laboratories of William Mills, manufacturer of the Mills bomb. She then worked for a time at the Royal Observatory but enemy bombing soon forced its closure and she was evacuated to Bath. She did not enjoy the clerical work and applied to the Department of War Transport when she saw an advert for women trainees to man canal barges.

Inland Waterways in the Second World War

Kevelos was one of the women who during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

were recruited from 1943 to 1945 to work

narrowboat A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commerc ...

s on the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...

between Birmingham and London, as part of the

Boatwomen's training scheme The boatwomen's training scheme was an initiative in the United Kingdom during the Second world war to attract women to work on Britain's canal network. Initiated by the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company (GUCCC) in 1942 the scheme was taken over ...

. The women wore badges with the initials "I.W." for "Inland Waterways". The wearers were nicknamed 'Idle Women'. After the Second World War Kevelos studied in Paris but returned to the Midlands and later moved to

King's Sutton King's Sutton is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, England in the valley of the River Cherwell. The village is about south-east of Banbury, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Astrop contiguous ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

Racing career

In 1950 Kevelos won her gold medal, riding a 500cc Norton Manx in the International Six-Day Trials in Wales. She was to ride with varying degrees of success in every Scottish Six Days Trial until she finally retired from the sport in 1970, and in every International Six-Day Trial until 1966. During her competition career she secured support from almost every major British motorcycle manufacturer, and from the Italian and Czech manufacturer
Parilla
and Jawa.

Later life

Olga Kevelos eventually gave up racing and for 26 years helped her younger brother Ray to run his pub, the Three Tuns, at

, south Northamptonshire. In 1978 she participated in

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

’s Mastermind, with

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

as her specialist subject. Her expertise on the Mongolian Emperor was also a topic of interest for former Prime Minister,

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

, who supposedly asked her about the topic. She later joked, "He probably wanted a few tips on how to invade other people’s countries successfully".

References

1923 births 2009 deaths People from Edgbaston People educated at King Edward VI High School for Girls, Birmingham English sportswomen English motorcycle racers Enduro riders Motorcycle trials riders Female motorcycle racers {{England-motorcycle-racing-bio-stub