Sydney Patterson (also known as Sid Patterson, 14 August 1927 – 29 November 1999) was a world champion amateur and professional

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 ...

from Melbourne, Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. While a teenager, Patterson won every Victorian and Australian title between 1,000 metres and ten miles (16.1 km). He represented Australia in cycling 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 ...

in London. In 1949 he won every Australian track championship in the

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...

, time trial, 1 mile, and 5 mile (8.05 km) events. Later that year he won the world amateur sprint championship in Copenhagen, and in 1950, the world amateur pursuit championship in

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. 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 ...

he won

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

s for the 1000m sprint and 1000m time trial. In 1951 he won the

Manchester Wheelers' Club Manchester Wheelers' Club is a cycling club in Manchester, in north-west England. Formation and early history The club was formed on 7 July 1883, as Manchester Athletic Bicycle Club, the name being changed to Manchester Wheelers' Club in 1890. T ...

Muratti Cup beating the British Sprint Champion, Alan Bannister, by almost a length. However Patterson was alleged to have held Bannister during the final sprint for the line and was subsequently disqualified and the race was awarded to Bannister. In 1951 Patterson became a professional and won the world professional pursuit championship in 1952 in Paris, and in 1953 in Zurich. Patterson teamed with Russell Mockridge and Reginald Arnold to win the Paris six-day race in 1955. By his final year of racing in 1967 he had 12 consecutive Australian championships. Sid Patterson was sponsored by Malvern Star, founded by Sir Bruce Small. At 72 Patterson died of

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. The ''Sid Patterson Grand Prix'' is held in Melbourne annually in his honour. The first was won by Tommy Nankervis, who was introduced to the sport after meeting Patterson at a bike shop. In 2015, he was an inaugural

Cycling Australia Hall of Fame Cycling Australia Hall of Fame was established in 2015. The focus of the Hall of Fame is on athletic performance but also acknowledge administrators, officials and coaches. A ‘Legends of the sport’ category will be introduced three years after ...

inductee.

References

External links

''Cycling News''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Sid 1927 births 1999 deaths Australian male cyclists Deaths from liver cancer Cyclists at the 1950 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Cyclists from Melbourne Olympic cyclists of Australia Cyclists at the 1948 Summer Olympics UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Australian track cyclists