Lucy Tyler-Sharman (born Lucy Tyler, in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

on 6 June 1965) is an Australian Olympic and World Champion cyclist.''W.A. Hall of Champions'' inductee booklet. (2006) Published by the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. The founding director was Wally Foreman who held the position for 17 ye ...

. pp. 127-128 As a junior, Tyler was a gifted sportswoman, focussing on

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

at junior high school and later

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

s. She moved into

criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

events while living in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and in 1988 made the move to

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

events. In 1990 she trained and raced in Australia, initially living in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. During this period she married track rider Martin Vinnicombe. The pair were training at the Trexlertown Velodrome facility in Pennsylvania in 1991, when Canadian drug testers at the request of their Australian counterparts recorded a positive drug test for Martin Vinnicombe. This ended Martin's career but the following year Lucy took up Australian residency and in the 1993 national championships in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

represented the state winning the sprint and 10 km scratch race. In 1994 she won an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

scholarship as a sprinter and represented Australia in the World Championships in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

finishing fourth. The following year she competed in the World championships in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

recording ninth place in the individual pursuit and 19th in the sprint. She married Western Australian cyclist

Graham Sharman Graham John Sharman (born 30 May 1938) is an English people, English former first-class cricketer and Squash (sport), squash player. Sharman was born in May 1938 at St Pancras, London, St Pancras. He was educated at Lancing College, where he wa ...

in May 1995 and moved to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. National coach Charlie Walsh convinced her to move to full-time track endurance events in December 1995. An expected good result at the February 1996 national titles in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

were derailed when she suffered a severe asthma attack during the points race. She was subsequently beaten by

Kathy Watt Kathryn ("Kathy") Ann Watt (born 11 September 1964) is an Australian racing cyclist who won two medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain (gold in the road race, and silver in the pursuit). She has won 24 national championships ...

in the 3000m individual pursuit. Shortly after, Watt was given a guarantee that she would ride in the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, with a proviso that the selection would be reviewed if another Australian rider posted a world-class time in the lead-up. Tyler-Sharman obliged during training in Germany by improving on Watts' 3000m national record by 5 seconds and moving to within 0.2 seconds of the world record. Watt was subsequently replaced by Tyler-Sharman, and a controversial legal battle ensued in which Watt was reinstated by appeal. Watt managed eighth in Atlanta while Tyler-Sharman watched from the stands. She missed selection in the pursuit, but did however compete in the 24 km points race, winning bronze. The World Championships in

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 ...

in late 1996 saw her set a world record in qualifying and win silver in the final behind

Marion Clignet Marion Clignet (born 21 February 1964) is a French former track cyclist. Born in Chicago, United States, Clignet was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 22 and was shunned by the United States Cycling Federation. She subsequently raced for Fra ...

. Further national and international meets included winning the individual pursuit and time trials at the 1997 Oceania Championships in 1997, and winning a second national pursuit title. In Canada in 1998 she won pursuit and points races and she won gold in the pursuit in the World Cup in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In the 1998 World Championships in Bordeaux she posted the fastest time in qualifying for the pursuit and in the final managed a time of 3:35.25 becoming the world champion. At the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

, she was beaten in her individual pursuit semi-final ride after which she launched a public verbal tirade against team management and Charlie Walsh, suggesting that her prospects had been sabotaged by being forced to use unfamiliar pedals. The outburst saw her sent home, unable to compete in the ride-off for bronze. Tyler-Sharman is the only Australian athlete ever sent home from a Commonwealth Games meet. In the lead-up to the

2000 Olympic Games 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 ...

in Sydney, the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as S ...

controversially funded her return to competition to compete at the National Track Titles. She now coaches in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

under her maiden name, Lucy Kirkpatrick Stansbury Tyler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler-Sharman, Lucy 1965 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Australian female cyclists Olympic cyclists for Australia Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Cyclists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Olympic medalists in cycling UCI Track Cycling World Champions (women) Australian track cyclists Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia 20th-century Australian sportswomen