Gary Neiwand (born 4 September 1966) is an Australian retired track cyclist. He is a former world champion, who also won four Olympic medals during his career.

Biography

Early life and career

Neiwand 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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, on 4 September 1966, the son of Ronald Charles Neiwand. Neiwand represented his country at cycling for more than a decade. He was Commonwealth Games sprint champion in 1986 and won his first Olympic medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, winning bronze in the sprint event. He repeated his success at the

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 ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, taking the gold in the sprint. Neiwand won his first

World Championship 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, ...

medal in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

in Stuttgart, winning the bronze in the sprint. He then went on to become the World Champion in both the

keirin – literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gambling ...

and sprint in 1993. 1994 saw Neiwand complete a hat-trick, winning his successive third sprint gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

After cycling

Neiwand spiralled into depression after missing his goal of a gold medal in the Keirin at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. He began drinking heavily, his marriage fell apart and he gained weight, ballooning to 116 kg. In 2006 Neiwand was sentenced to eighteen months in prison for breaching a court order preventing him from harassing a former girlfriend. Neiwand began his sentence at

Port Phillip Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is com ...

before being moved to

Beechworth Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the , Beechworth had a population of 3,859. Beechworth's many histor ...

. He was released on probation after serving nine months in jail. He has since rebuilt his relationship with his children, Malcolm and Courtney, and ex-wife, Cathy. Neiwand joined the Sunrise Foundation in 2007, an organisation which, through the high schools, aims to demystify and tackle depression in the community. It is run by former North Melbourne and Sydney footballer, Wayne Schwass. On 5 December 2011 Niewand pleaded guilty to two charges of wilful and obscene exposure in Melbourne, after having been charged on two separate occasions in January and May 2011 for exposing himself to women while masturbating in his car. These offences occurred after Niewand had been released on a court order in December 2010 on unrelated charges, where he had been ordered to attend Forensicare and counselling about his behaviour. The court heard that having attended counselling over the previous six months Niewand had made significant progress, had his drinking problems under control, and was concerned and upset about his offending and his predicament. The

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

regarded a report from the Forensicare counsellor as "promising", adjourning the case until March 2012 when he was sentenced to four months jail, wholly suspended for two years.

Awards and honours

Neiwand received the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

on 14 July 2000 and the Centenary Medal on 1 January 2001.

Major results

;1986 :1st Sprint,

:3rd Sprint, Goodwill Games, Moscow ;1988 :3rd Sprint Summer Olympics ;1990 :1st Sprint,

;1991 :3rd Sprint,

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

;1992 :2nd Sprint, Summer Olympics :1st Sprint, Copenhagen ;1993 :2nd Sprint, GP de Paris :1st Keirin,

:1st Sprint,

;1994 :1st Sprint,

;1996 :2nd Sprint, Busto Garolfo :2nd Keirin,

:1st Team Sprint,

(with Darryn William Hill & Shane Kelly) ;1999 :2nd Team Sprint, Frisco ;2000 :3rd Sprint, Summer Olympics :2nd Keirin, Summer Olympics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neiwand, Gary 1966 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Australian male cyclists Cyclists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Cyclists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Cyclists from Melbourne Olympic medalists in cycling UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Australian track cyclists Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Sportsmen from Victoria (state)