Shane Perkins (russian: Шейн Перкинс; born 30 December 1986) is an Australian and Russian (since 17 August 2017) professional track cyclist.

Biography

Early life

Perkins was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, the son of

Daryl Perkins Daryl Perkins (born 20 April 1943) is a former Australian professional track cyclist. Biography Perkins was born and lives in the state of Victoria, Australia. He was a sprint, tandem and six-day rider. Perkins teamed with Ian Browne to win ...

. As a youngster, Perkins played cricket, football and basketball. He played basketball at a very high level aged 7 to 14, but did not enjoy it enough to continue. Perkins rode BMX for a short while and began cycling aged 13 in 1999 with his father, who had himself been a successful cyclist. His first cycling club was the Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club, and his first medal was won at the Victoria state championships at Northcote, it was a gold medal in the sprint event, where he beat friend and rival Michael Ford. Within three months of taking up cycling, he had qualified to compete at the U15 Australian National Championships in Sydney, there he won two gold medals and broke two Australian records in the process. He went on to win 11 further National Championship titles between then and 2006, and broke another two Australian records. He is an Australian Institute of Sport and

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succe ...

scholarship holder.

2004: Junior World championships

In Los Angeles in 2004, Perkins became the sprint and keirin junior

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. He tested positive for methamphetamine following the Keirin final on 29 July, his case was heard in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in November 2004. The Court took into account extenuating circumstances, accepting that Perkins had used a stimulant inadvertently. A

Cycling Australia Cycling Australia (CA), the trading name of the Australian Cycling Federation Inc, was the national governing body for bicycle racing in Australia, and represented the interests of affiliated cycling clubs and State federations. It covered the d ...

statement said: "In America Perkins purchased a nasal inhaler of the same brand he regularly uses in Australia without realising it contained a different active ingredient, namely methamphetamine, which is on the banned list," Perkins' suspension ran for six months, from 16 November 2004.

Commonwealth Games

Perkins was reselected to represent Australia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in his hometown, Melbourne. He won a bronze medal as part of Australia's team sprint squad, becoming the youngest ever Australian cyclist to win a

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 ...

medal. He then went on to represent his country and claim the gold medal in the Men's individual sprint event at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

in Delhi. His 2010 Commonwealth Games were not completely successful, however, as he was disqualified from the semifinal of the men's keirin. Relegated to the 7-12 place race, he swore at the judges as he crossed the finishing line. He later apologised and withdrew from the men's team sprint. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he was part of the team that won the bronze medal in the men's team sprint.

London 2012

Perkins qualified for the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Perkins competed in the Men's Sprint, Men's Keirin, and Men's Team Sprint. He was part of the Australian sprint team that finished 4th, finished 5th in the keirin but won the bronze medal in the individual sprint.

Since 2015: Out of Australian team and acquirement of the Russian citizenship, first European medal

Since 2015, Perkins was not considered to be a candidate to the Australian international team, in particular, he missed the 2016 Summer Olympics. On 15 February 2017, it was announced that Perkins was in the process of acquiring Russian citizenship with the goal to race for the Russian team at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. In August 2017, Perkins was granted Russian citizenship. At the national championships, Perkins won gold with the Moscow team. He then won bronze in the individual sprint event, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Pavel Yakushevskiy. He beat Alexey Tkachev in the bronze medal match. Perkins later also won gold in the keirin discipline. Perkins debuted at the European Championships in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany. He participated in the team sprint and keirin event. His team consisting of Pavel Yakushevskiy and

Denis Dmitriev Denis Sergeyevich Dmitriev (russian: Денис Сергеевич Дмитриев; born 23 March 1986) is a Russian track cyclist. Specialising in the sprint events, Dmitriev's best result in international sports was winning a gold medal at th ...

took the fourth place after losing the bronze medal race to the Dutch. In the keirin event, Perkins won his first European silver medal, losing only to the German Maximilian Levy.

Personal life

In February 2008, tension was brewing between Perkins and his rival for Olympic selection,

Ryan Bayley Ryan Neville Bayley OAM (born 9 March 1982) is an Australian professional track cyclist and double Olympic gold medallist. Biography Born in Perth, Western Australia, Bayley started competitive cycling in 1997 at fifteen years of age. He is ...

. Both were deemed by the judges to be riding improperly at the Australian National Track Championships. Bayley crashed when Perkins moved down on him during a race, burning a hole in the back of his skinsuit. The relationship between the two riders was given another dimension, when Perkins announced his engagement to Bayley's younger sister, Kristine Bayley. Perkins and Kristine Bayley had a son, Aidan, in October 2008. They were married in November 2009. During 2018 Six Days of Berlin, his father

who flew to watch him race was infected with Meningococcal meningitis, which could cause permanent disabilities or death. A

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...

fundraising campaign organized by Six Day Series exceeded target of 20,000 euros under support of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

public. His father got cured for 6 weeks and returned to Australia for further recovery. He was grateful of the reception and decided to race again in 2019 Six Days of Berlin.

Major results

;2003 :1st Kilo,

Australian National Track Championships The Australian National Track Championships are held annually and are composed of competitions of various track cycling disciplines across various age, gender and disability categories. Men Senior Team Pursuit Team Sprint Madison Junior ...

, Juniors :1st Sprint,

, Juniors ;2004 :1st Keirin,

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, Juniors :3rd Team Sprint,

, Juniors :1st Sprint,

, Juniors :2nd Kilo,

, Juniors :1st Sprint,

, Juniors ;2006 :3rd Team Sprint,

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, Los Angeles :3rd Team Sprint,

:2nd Keirin,

:3rd Team Sprint,

(with

Shane Kelly Shane John Kelly OAM (born 7 January 1972) is a former professional Australian track racing cyclist. Kelly specialized in the men's 1000 m time trial, commonly known as the Kilo. Kelly announced his retirement from international competition ...

) :3rd Sprint, Oceania Games, Melbourne :1st Team Sprint, Oceania Games, Melbourne (with Scott Sunderland & Joel Leonard) ;2007 :3rd Keirin,

, Los Angeles :3rd Sprint,

:1st Team Sprint,

(with

Mark French Mark French (born 13 October 1984) is a retired Australian sprint track cyclist. He started cycling competitively relatively late, at the age of 15, in 1999. Drug scandal French is most recognised for the 2004 scandal where he was accused of ...

& Joel Leonard) :2nd Keirin,

:1st Keirin,

, Manchester :3rd Team Sprint,

, Manchester :2nd Sprint, Oceania Championships, Invercargill :3rd Keirin, Oceania Championships, Invercargill ;2008 :3rd Sprint,

:1st Team Sprint,

(with

) :2nd Sprint,

, Manchester :1st Sprint,

, Melbourne ;2009 :3rd Sprint,

, Beijing :1st Keirin Oceania Championships AUS :1st Team Sprint Oceania Championships AUS :1st Keirin Australian Championships SA :1st Sprint Australian Championships SA :1st Team Sprint Australian Championships SA :1st Kilometre Time Trial Australian Championships SA :1st Austral Wheelrace VIC ;2010 :1st Sprint,

;2011 :1st Keirin,

;2012 :1st Team sprint,

;2014 :3rd Team sprint,

;2017 :1st Team sprint, Russian Track Cycling Championships :3rd Sprint, Russian Track Cycling Championships :1st Keirin, Russian Track Cycling Championships :2nd Keirin, European Championships

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Shane 1986 births Living people Australian male cyclists Cyclists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Cyclists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Cyclists from Melbourne Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in cycling Victorian Institute of Sport alumni Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Russian male cyclists Naturalised citizens of Russia Australian emigrants to Russia Australian track cyclists European Games competitors for Russia Cyclists at the 2019 European Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games