James Howard Pollak Jr. (born October 6, 1963) is a retired

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

who competed in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Early life

Pollak was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

. When he was nine years old, he was diagnosed with a degenerative hip disease, called Legg-Calve-Perthes, that confined him to a full

leg brace Orthotics ( el, Ορθός, translit=ortho, lit=to straighten, to align) is a medical specialty that focuses on the design and application of orthoses, or braces. An is "an externally applied device used to influence the structural and functio ...

and

crutches A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. History Crutc ...

for two years, and made it impossible for him to play sports. He was told the likelihood of playing competitive sports was remote and contact sports were out of the question. He went on to letter in five sports at Horton Watkins High School.

Cycling career

He then studied at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

, in hopes of competing for the cross country team, but was not successful. One of his

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, "brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternity in ...

brothers at

Alpha Epsilon Pi Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college fraternity founded at New York University in 1913 by Charles C. Moskowitz and ten other men. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United Kingdo ...

, told him about a bicycle race called the

Little 500 The Little 500 (also known popularly as the "Little Five"), is a track cycling race held annually during the third weekend of April at Bill Armstrong Stadium on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind ...

that took after the world-famous Indianapolis 500 Indy race. He competed and found his new passion, cycling, guiding his fraternity to fourth place his freshman year and then second, first and second the next three years. He was voted as rookie rider of the year his freshman year and all-star rider the following three years and was inducted into the Little 500 Hall of Fame at the end of his senior year. He graduated from

in 1986 with a B.S. in Law and Public Policy. He put off a law career in an attempt to become a U.S. Olympic Cyclist. At his first Olympic Trials in 1988 in Houston, he was first alternate to the team. He won four U.S. National Championships during his career along with a gold medal in the points race at The Goodwill Games in 1990, and a silver medal in the team pursuit in The Pan American Games in 1991 in Havana, Cuba. Pollak was a member of the team pursuit in 1990 that set a U.S. National record. He rode for the Subaru Montgomery Cycling Team in 1990, until they turned professional the following year. He finished his career riding for Evian Miko as the only American on a Canadian team. Pollak qualified for the 1992 Olympics in the team pursuit at the Olympic Trials in

Blaine, Minnesota Blaine is a suburban city in Anoka and Ramsey counties in the State of Minnesota, United States. Once a rural town, Blaine's population has increased significantly in the last 60 years. For several years, Blaine led the Twin Cities metro region ...

. At the 1992 Summer Olympics 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 ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, his American squad rode to a ninth-place finish.

Other activities

Pollak retired from cycling, and has worked with many unfortunate children afflicted by his same disease as well as with the Ronald McDonald House. he has spoken in front of several large groups of children about life as an athlete and motivation. He was named to the St. Louis Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. He spent several years in the investment world working with major investment banking giants

Prudential Securities Prudential Securities, also formerly known as Prudential Securities Incorporated (PSI), was the financial services arm of the insurer, Prudential Financial. In 2003, Prudential Securities was merged into Wachovia Securities, a division of Wachov ...

and

Paine Webber PaineWebber & Co. was an American investment bank and stock brokerage firm that was acquired by the Swiss bank UBS in 2000. The company was founded in 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts, by William Alfred Paine and Wallace G. Webber. Operating with ...

UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swis ...

. Pollak turned is career to oil and gas exploration and development in 2004 and is the President and CEO of Patriot Natural Resources.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollak, James Howard Jr. 1963 births Living people American male cyclists Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for the United States Sportspeople from St. Louis Ladue Horton Watkins High School alumni Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Cyclists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in cycling