Alexi Singh Grewal (born September 8, 1960) is an American Olympic gold medalist and former professional

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most commo ...

. At the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

in Los Angeles, Grewal became the first American man to win an Olympic gold medal in road cycling. He has two brothers, Rishi and Ranjeet, who were also top American cyclists, especially in mountain bike racing.

Biography

The United States Bicycling Hall of Fame gave the following description of his Los Angeles gold medal ride: "With an estimated crowd of 300,000 lining the 190.2-kilometer route, Grewal edged Canadian Steve Bauer to claim the gold medal in the men's road race, breaking away from the field with 20 kilometers remaining and opening up a 24-second lead after 11 of 12 laps and then being caught by Bauer with 10 kilometers left, setting up a dramatic final-lap showdown. This scene, replayed many times since, is one of the most emotional Olympic victories of the Modern Games." After winning Olympic gold, Grewal turned professional and signed with the Panasonic team and later with the

7-Eleven Cycling Team The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist. The team lasted 16 years, under the sponsorship of 7-Eleven through 1990 and th ...

. According to teammate

Bob Roll Bob "Bobke" Roll (born July 7, 1960 in Oakland, California) is an American former professional cyclist, author, and television sports commentator. He was a member of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team until 1990 and competed for the Motorola Cycling Team ...

, Grewal was the captain of the 1986 7-Eleven team through the spring. Sometime later in 1986, he was dropped by the team after spitting on a CBS camera man who got too close. He raced for the United States-based Coors Light pro team from 1989-1993. He became well known in the cycling community as an extraordinarily talented, but emotionally volatile rider. After retiring from professional cycling Grewal moved to Colorado with his family. Grewal began making hand-hewn and crafted furniture and architectural features out of native hardwoods after his cycling days were over. He lost part of his fingers in an accident involving a saw. A bicycle frame manufacturer in Denver, Colorado, the Clark-Kent company, made a special road racing frame, the "AX-1", to Grewal's specifications. This steel frame featured an unusual bent seat tube with unorthodox frame angles. In 2004, Grewal was elected to the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame. On April 3, 2008,'' VeloNews'' published an essay by Grewal on his personal use (and the overall prevalence) of doping in cycling during his career, both in his amateur and professional days. In 2009, and again 2013, Alexi unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Loveland, Colorado. On September 25, 2010, ''VeloNews'' announced that Grewal would be making a comeback at age 50, targeting the Quiznos Pro Challenge in Colorado in 2011. However, he was not on the start list and did not complete this race. He instead turned his focus to non-professional gravel and ''gran fondo'' rides, such as the Snowmass-Aspen Gran Fondo Italia, finishing fourth out of 125 riders in one race.

Major results

;1981 : 1st Mt. Evans Hill Climb (1:57:36) : 2nd Overall

Vuelta Ciclista de Chile The Vuelta Ciclista de Chile is an annual Chilean elite men's professional road cycling stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be cover ...

;1982 : 1st Overall

Cascade Cycling Classic The Cascade Cycling Classic was the longest running elite road bicycle racing stage race in the United States (1980–2019), with 2018 being the only year the race was not held. The race took place in the Central Oregon region and was based in Be ...

: 2nd Overall

::1st Stages 7 & 8 ;1983 : 1st Stage 8a

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independen ...

: 1st Stage 6a

GP Tell The Grand Prix Guillaume Tell (, "William Tell Grand Prize") was a professional cycling race held annually in Switzerland. It was part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were in ...

: 1st Stage 8

Coors Classic The Coors International Bicycle Classic (1980–1988) was a stage race sponsored by the Coors Brewing Company. Coors was the race's second sponsor; the first, Celestial Seasonings, named the race after its premium tea Red Zinger, which began in 19 ...

: 1st Stage 10 Red Zinger Classic ;1984 : 1st Gold medal

Road race,

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

: 1st Mt. Evans Hill Climb (1:47:51) : 1st Stage 8 Tour of Texas ;1985 : 5th Overall Etoile de Bessèges ;1986 : 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 12 ;1987 : 1st Overall Vulcan Tour ::1st Prologue ;1988 : 1st Overall

Redlands Bicycle Classic The Redlands Bicycle Classic is a cycling stage race located in Redlands, California, United States that has been held since 1985. It consists of three road races, an individual time trial and a criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race c ...

::1st Stages 3 & 4 ( TTT) : 1st Overall Mammoth Classic ::1st Stage 2 ;1989 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;1990 : 1st Mt. Evans Hill Climb (1:46:29 – former record) : 1st Overall Casper Classic ::1st Stage 2 : 1st Stage 4 Cascade Classic ;1991 : 4th Overall Tour DuPont ;1992 : 1st Overall Tour de Bisbee ::1st Stage 1 : 1st Stage 10 Tour DuPont ;1993 : 1st Nevada City Classic : 1st Stage 5 Casper Classic

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grewal, Alexi 1960 births Living people American male cyclists Cyclists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in cycling Sportspeople from Aspen, Colorado American people of Punjabi descent American Sikhs American sportspeople of Indian descent Doping cases in cycling Olympic medalists in cycling Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Cyclists from Colorado