Rebecca Twigg (born March 26, 1963) is an American former

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

Cycling career

An academic prodigy, she enrolled at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

at the age of 14 and rode for the school's team. US national team coach

Eddie Borysewicz Edward Borysewicz (March 18, 1939 – November 16, 2020), sometimes known as "Eddie B", was a cycling coach who brought the United States to world prominence, even though at first he barely spoke English. The US team, under his direction, won ni ...

saw her and invited her to join his team when she was 17. She earned degrees in biology and

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

from UW. Twigg won six world track cycling championships in the individual pursuit. She also won 16 US championships (the first – the

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' " stopwatch stage"). There are also track ...

– when she was 18) and two Olympic medals, the silver medal in the 1984 road race in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, and a bronze medal in the pursuit in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 1992. She won the first three editions of the

Women's Challenge The Women's Challenge bicycle race (originally known as the Ore-Ida Women's Challenge as the lead sponsor was the Ore-Ida brand of frozen potato products) was held annually in the western United States in southern Idaho, beginning in 1984 until ...

on the road. Twigg was a three-time Olympian (1984, 1992, and 1996). However, her final Olympic appearance, in Atlanta in 1996, ended in controversy when she quit the team in a disagreement with the coach Chris Carmichael and the U.S. Cycling Federation. The federation had invested in the development of the so-called SuperBike. Twigg, after using the bike earlier in the Games, refused to ride it, citing poor individual fit and claiming that pressure from the staff on her to use the SuperBike and their refusal to grant accreditation to her personal coach,

, left her defocused. Twigg married Mark Whitehead – a fellow member of the 1984 US Olympic cycling team – in 1985, but the marriage only lasted a couple of years.

Post-cycling life

After retiring from competitive cycling, Twigg earned an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. Th ...

in computer science and worked at various jobs in the

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...

industry. She remarried and had a daughter with her second husband. She later quit her jobs and became

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

while staying in Seattle, and as of 2019 has been homeless for the past five years. Her first personal encounter with homelessness occurred when she was 15 years old and was kicked out of her house by her mother.

Palmarès

;1982 :1st

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 ...

(individual pursuit) :1st U.S. National Time Trial Championships :3rd

United States National Road Race Championships The United States National Professional Road Race Championships began in 1985. They are run by the governing body, USA Cycling. Until 2006 the race was open to all nationalities, the first American to finish being named the winner and given a di ...

;1983 :3rd

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 ...

;1984 :1st

(individual pursuit) :1st

:1st

;1985 :1st

(individual pursuit) :1st

;1986 :2nd

(individual pursuit) :1st

;1987 :1st

(individual pursuit) ;1993 :1st

(individual pursuit) :1st U.S. National Time Trial Championships ;1994 :1st U.S. National Time Trial Championships ;1995 :1st

(individual pursuit) ;1997 :3rd U.S. National Time Trial Championships

References

External links

"Free Wheeling: Rebecca Twigg Has Never Pedaled With The Pack, And She Doesn't Plan To Start Now," Sports Illustrated July 26, 1996
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twigg, Rebecca 1963 births Living people American female cyclists Cyclists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1987 Pan American Games Homelessness in the United States Sportspeople from Seattle UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women) Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in cycling Olympic silver medalists for the United States in cycling Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in cycling American track cyclists Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 21st-century American women Cyclists from Washington (state) University of Washington alumni