Gordon W. "Tiny" Thomas (18 August 1921 – 10 April 2013) was a British

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

who competed at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

in London. There he won a silver medal in the team road race alongside Bob Maitland and Ian Scott. He also competed in the individual event, finishing 8th in a field of 101 participants. Born in Shipley,

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, he served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in Africa and Italy. After his Olympic experience, he went on to win the 1953

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

before retiring from cycling to enter the wool business.

References

1921 births 2013 deaths British Army personnel of World War II English male cyclists British male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medalists in cycling Royal Artillery personnel Sportspeople from Shipley, West Yorkshire Cyclists from Yorkshire Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Military personnel from West Yorkshire 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-cycling-bio-stub