Gary Neiwand (born 4 September 1966) is an Australian retired

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 wa ...

. 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 language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

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

champion in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and won his first Olympic medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

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

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, 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 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

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

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

and sprint in 1993.

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

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, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. 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 languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

before being moved to

Beechworth Beechworth is a 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 3,290. Beechworth's many historical buildings are well pr ...

. 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 Wayne Schwass (born 27 November 1968) is a former professional Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He is notable as being the first New Zealand–born AFL player known to be of Māori heritage. He holds the record for ...

. 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 A court order is an official proclamation by a judge (or panel of judges) that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying o ...

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 judi ...

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, off ...

on 14 July 2000 and the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

on 1 January 2001.

Major results

;1986 :1st Sprint,

:3rd Sprint,

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

, Moscow ;1988 :3rd Sprint

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

;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,

: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 Shane John Kelly Order of Australia, OAM (born 7 January 1972) is a former professional Australian Track cycling, track racing cycle sport, cyclist. Kelly specialised in the men's Track time trial#Men - 1 km Time Trial, 1000 m time trial, ...

) ;1999 :2nd Team Sprint, Frisco ;2000 :3rd Sprint,

:2nd Keirin,

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 bronze 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 cyclists for Australia 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) Olympic silver medalists in cycling 20th-century Australian sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in cycling