Michael Benjamin Blatchford (born January 29, 1986, in

Cypress, California Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County, California. Its population was 50,151 as of the 2020 census. History Cypress originally was nicknamed "Waterville" due to the preponderance of artesian wells in the area, but was incorporated ...

) 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 Pan American and four U.S. national championship titles in his career resume since he scored his first triumph as an eighteen-year-old junior in 2004. He also 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 ...

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 ...

and eventually led off the Americans for the silver medal in men's team sprint at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

. Blatchford currently races for Project London 2012 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

Growing up in

, where he was home-schooled through high school, Blatchford started his cycling career at age thirteen, when he first discovered the now-defunct Olympic Velodrome that hosted the

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, 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 i ...

tournament at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. Blatchford's visit and fascination had thereby inspired him to become a track sprinter, and eventually claimed the silver medal at the 2004 UCI Junior World Championships in

Los Angeles 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, ...

. On that same year, he outclassed Giddeon Massie and

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 ...

for an elite U.S. national title in men's sprint that officially marked his debut as a force to be reckoned with on the domestic and international track cycling scene. Shortly after his early success, Blatchford became one of the resident athletes of the

. His sporting career continued to flourish with a bronze medal in men's sprint at the 2006 UCI World Cup series in

, followed by an impressive, gold medal effort for the U.S. cycling team at the 2007

Pan American Road and Track Championships The Pan American Cycling Championships are the continental cycling championships for road bicycle racing held annually for member nations of the Pan American Cycling Confederation. The events were first held in 1974 in Cali Santiago de Cali ...

Valencia, Venezuela Valencia () is the capital city of Carabobo State and the third-largest city in Venezuela. The city is an economic hub that contains Venezuela's top industries and manufacturing companies. It is also the largest city in the Valencia-Maracay m ...

. With an aim on the team sprint event for the Olympics in 2008, Blatchford teamed up with Olympians Massie 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 ...

to set a new U.S. record of 45.128 seconds at the

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 ...

Manchester, England 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 ...

. Following a stunning performance from the World Championships, Blatchford qualified for two track cycling events at the

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 ...

by recording the fastest entry time, and earning an automatic berth from 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's Selection Camp. In the men's team sprint, held on the first day of the track program, Blatchford helped his teammates Massie and Duvendeck set an eighth-place time in 45.346 (an average speed of 59.542 km/h) on the morning prelims before they were knocked off by 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. Two days later, in the men's sprint, Blatchford lost his round-of-sixteen match-up against France's

Kévin Sireau Kévin Sireau (born 18 April 1987) is a French professional racing cyclist. He's currently coaching the Indian cycling team. Major results ;2003 :3rd Sprint, French National Track Championships, Novice ;2004 :2nd Sprint, French National Track ...

, and finished second in his repechage heat behind Japan's

Kazunari Watanabe is a Japanese cyclist. Watanabe has competed in the keirin and other track events at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, w ...

, thus eliminating him from the tournament. Earlier in the morning session, Blatchford grabbed a fifteenth seed with a time of 10.470. In 2009, Blatchford immediately took up a two-year

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work; "an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job." The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Bi ...

from the sport, when the U.S. cycling team disbanded the sprint program in track cycling. By early 2011, he came out of an early retirement to join with four other riders for Project London 2012, an elite track cycling team, inspired and created by Rubicon Cycling LCC, that fosters the youth to become champion professional athletes, fulfilling their dream to represent the

at the Olympic Games. Returning from two years off the sport, Blatchford managed to reclaim the men's sprint titles (both individual and team) at the 2011 U.S. Track Cycling Championships, and further continued his stellar ride as part of the team that registered an American record of 44.036 and earned a silver medal 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 ...

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

. Having been chosen by

to be eligible for team selection, Blatchford sought his official bid to compete 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 ...

, but he was shortlisted.

Career highlights

;2004 * 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) * UCI Junior Track World Championships (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) ;2005 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (250 m sprint),

(USA) * Pan American Championships (Sprint),

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...

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

(ARG) ;2006 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint),

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

(USA) * Stage 3,

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),

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 ...

(USA) ;2007 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (250 m sprint),

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

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

(USA) ;2008 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (250 m sprint),

(USA) * 8th

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 Giddeon Massie),

(CHN) * 10th

(Team sprint with

and Giddeon Massie),

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) * 15th

(

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 ...

(CHN) ;2011 * U.S. Track Cycling Championships (Team sprint with Dean Tracy and Kevin Mansker),

(USA) *

(

with Jimmy Watkins and Dean Tracy),

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

(MEX)

References

External links

Michael Blatchford
at

(archived March 3, 2016) *
NBC 2008 Olympics profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blatchford, Michael 1986 births Living people American male cyclists American track cyclists Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in cycling Olympic cyclists for the United States Sportspeople from Cypress, California 21st-century American sportsmen