Giddeon Massie (born August 27, 1981, in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

) is an American professional track cyclist. He collected two medals (silver and bronze) each in men's

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 at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

, and later represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in two editions of the Olympic Games (2004 and 2008). Massie has been considered one of the best American track sprinters on the domestic and international circuits, having awarded a conglomerate of twenty U.S. championship titles since his sporting debut in 2001. At the peak of his career, Massie currently races for the Bike Religion pro cycling team, and works as a resident athlete for the

U.S. Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic Games, Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located i ...

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

Racing career

Born and raised in

to Mike and Robin Massie, Massie had been playing baseball and basketball throughout his early childhood. He discovered cycling as a ten-year-old upon entering the Air Products Development Program, a free sporting institution in

Trexlertown, Pennsylvania Trexlertown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Upper Macungie Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,382. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of ...

that highly fostered people of all ages to take up track cycling. Since then, he finished his junior career fifth in the world, and earned two U.S. national titles, and top finishes at the UCI World Cup series. Off the sport, Massie also attended the Faith Christian Academy in

Sellersville, Pennsylvania Sellersville is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,249 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is in the Pennridge School District. History 18th century Sellersville w ...

, where he enrolled on a music scholarship from the U.S. National Band Association for his talent in clarinet, an instrument that had been inherited by his father. In 2003, Massie moved to

, where he trained and worked as a resident athlete for the

and has been continuously lived until the present. On that same year, Massie also claimed the gold medal in men's

and silver in men's sprint when he competed for the first time on the international scene at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

. A full-time member of the

USA Cycling USA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and BMX across all ages and ability levels. ...

team, Massie made his worldwide debut at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, where he finished eleventh in the men's team sprint (45.742), along with his teammates

Christian Stahl Christian Stahl (born May 24, 1983) is an American racing cyclist. He was a member of the 2004 US Olympic Cycling Team, and competed in the team sprint. Stahl earned his Olympic selection along with Adam Duvendeck and Giddeon Massie, who finish ...

and

Adam Duvendeck Jeremy Adam Duvendeck (born October 28, 1981, in Santa Barbara, California) is a retired American professional track cyclist. He represented the United States in two editions of the Olympic Games (2004 and 2008), and later claimed two elite nati ...

. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, Massie qualified for his second U.S. squad, as a 26-year-old, in two track cycling events by receiving an automatic berth from the

Team's Selection Camp. In the men's team sprint, held on the first day of the program, Massie helped his teammates Duvendeck and

Michael Blatchford Michael Benjamin Blatchford (born January 29, 1986, in Cypress, California) is an American professional track cyclist. Considered one of the youngest and most dynamic American sprinters on the present-day track circuit, Blatchford has held two P ...

set an eighth-place time in 45.346 (an average speed of 59.542 km/h) on the morning prelims before losing out to the Brits (led by Olympic legend

Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy (born 23 March 1976) is a former Track cycling, track cyclist and racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympics, Great Britain at the Olympic Games, Olympic and World Championships and Scot ...

) in the first round. The following day, in the men's keirin, Massie narrowly missed the second spot taken by the Netherlands'

Theo Bos Theo Bos (born 22 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional road and track cyclist. An Olympic silver medalist and five-time world champion, he is the brother of Olympic medalist in speed skating Jan Bos. On 29 November 2021, he announced ...

in his opening heat and finished fourth in the repechage against five other cyclists, thus eliminating him from the competition with a twenty-first place overall. In 2009, Massie recovered from his second Olympic setback by achieving three more track cycling titles in Keirin, the 250 m standing start, and the now-defunct kilometre time trial at the U.S. Championships in

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

. He continued to flourish his sporting career by adding two more national titles to his career resume and mounting a second-place finish in men's sprint, won by his former Olympic teammate Blatchford, on the same tournament in 2011, earning him a guaranteed place on the

team for his third Olympic bid. Despite being shortlisted on the list for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Massie managed to defend his titles in both Keirin and time trial at the U.S. Championships for a total of twenty, making him one of the most successful U.S. track cyclists of all time.

Anti-drug campaign

Shortly after his first Olympics in 2004, Massie was selected by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to participate in a series public service announcements that promoted clean, honest, and fair competition with the theme: ''My Health. My Sport. My Victory. I Compete Clean''. This campaign had been truly inspired by Massie's surprising triumphs at the Pan American Games, following an immediate call of Barbadian sprinter

Barry Forde Barry Ricardo Forde (born 17 September 1976) is a former Barbadian track cyclist. Forde was banned for two years and two months after testing positive for Testosterone on 28 October 2005.

to further strip off his medals for failing the doping test. Moreover, Massie and his Olympic teammate Duvendeck co-founded Focus 2004, a track cycling team that encouraged young athletes and professionals to eliminate doping and the use of performance-enhancing drugs from the sport.

Career highlights

;2001 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Sprint),

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

(USA) ;2003 *

(

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

(DOM) *

(

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 ...

(DOM) ;2004 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Sprint),

(USA) * 11th

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(

Team sprint The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome. The riders use a ...

with

and

(GRE) ;2005 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint),

(USA) * 5th Stage 2,

UCI World Cup The UCI World Cups are the World Cups for cycling disciplines organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale: * UCI Road World Cup The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long Road bicycle racing, road cycling competition held from 1989 until 2004 ...

(Team sprint),

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(GBR) ;2006 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (250 m sprint),

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Keirin),

(USA) * Pan American Championships (Sprint),

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

(BRA) * Pan American Championships (Team sprint),

(BRA) * 4th Stage 3,

(Team sprint),

(USA) * 12th Stage 3,

(Keirin),

(USA) ;2007 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint),

(USA) * Pan American Championships (Keirin),

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

(VEN) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (250 m sprint),

(USA) ;2008 * 8th

(

with

and

(CHN) * 21st

(

(CHN) ;2009 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (250 m sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Keirin),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Sprint),

(USA) * 6th Stage 2,

(1 km time trial),

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 ...

(AUS) * 12th Stage 2,

(Keirin),

(AUS) ;2010 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (1 km time trial),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Keirin),

(USA) * 11th Stage 4,

(1 km time trial),

(CHN) * 11th Stage 4,

(Points race),

(CHN) * 13th Stage 3,

(Keirin),

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

(COL) * 40th

UCI World Championships The UCI World Championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winn ...

(Sprint),

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

(DEN) ;2011 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (1 km time trial),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Keirin),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint),

(USA) * 12th

(Team sprint),

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

(NED) * 27th

(Sprint),

(NED) ;2012 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Keirin),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (1 km time trial),

(USA) * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Sprint),

(USA)

References

External links

* *
Giddeon Massie
at

(archived March 3, 2016) * * *
NBC 2008 Olympics profile
(archived October 22, 2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Massie, Giddeon 1981 births Living people American male cyclists American track cyclists Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in cycling Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in cycling Olympic cyclists for the United States Sportspeople from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 21st-century American sportsmen