Michael Thomas Gallagher, OAM (born 14 December 1978) is an Australian Paralympic cyclist from Scotland. He has won gold medals 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 ...

and 2012 London Paralympics. He was selected in the Australian team for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) revealed that Gallagher had returned a positive A sample for erythropoietin (EPO) in an out-of-competition training camp in Italy in July 2016. This A positive disqualified him from the Rio Paralympics.

Personal

Gallagher was born on 14 December 1978 in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and moved to Australia as a five-year-old. He has Erb's palsy in his right shoulder, due to an accident at birth. He lives in

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 ...

and runs a construction business.

Cycling

Gallagher is a C5 classified track and road cyclist. He started cycling with a family friend when he was twenty-five years old, and then started taking the sport more seriously. He cycles for Carnegie Caulfield Cycling Club, is affiliated with the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

and is coached by Hilton Clarke Senior. He first represented Australia in 2005 at the IPC European Championships. His cycling is sponsored by

(VIS), Bianchi, 2XU and CSM Cycles. He was part of the Australian team at the 2005 IPC European Championships, the 2006 and 2007 Para-cycling World Championships, and the 2009, 2011 and 2012 Para-cycling Track World Championships. I He has also participated in road-racing competitions, including the 2009 Para-cycling Road World Championships and the 2011 Para-cycling Road World Cup in Australia. At the 2008 Beijing Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's Individual Pursuit LC1 event, for which he received a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

, and a bronze medal in the Men's Individual Road Race LC1–2/CP4 event. At the 2012 London Paralympics, he participated in the Men's Road Race C4–5, Men's Time Trial C5, Men's Individual Pursuit C5 and the Mixed Team Sprint C1–5 events – winning a gold medal in the Individual Pursuit C5 and a bronze medal in the Time Trial C5. Competing at the 2013 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...

, Canada, he won a gold medal in the Men's Road Race C5. At the 2014

UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships The UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships are the world championships for track cycling where athletes with a physical disability compete, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The Championships were earlier administered by ...

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, Mexico, he won the gold medal in the Men's 4 km Individual Pursuit C4. He broke the world record with a time of 4minutes and 24.057 seconds in the qualifying. At the 2015

in Appledorn,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, he won the gold medal in the Men's 4 km Individual Pursuit C5 and a bronze medal in the 15 km Scratch Race C5. Competing at the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, he finished tenth in the Men's Time Trial C5 and fifth in the Men's Road Race C5. At the 2016

in Montichiari,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, he defended his Men's 4 km Individual Pursuit C5 title by defeating fellow Australian Alistair Donohoe. In 2016, he was a

scholarship holder. In 2016 he was found to have tested positive for the banned substance EPO and removed from the Australian Paralympic team for Rio 2016 Paralympics. In 2023 he was part of Team HKL/ROKiTs WTRL APAC Open Shield A1 winning squad.

Recognition

Gallagher was named the Victorian Athlete of the Year with a Disability in 2006 and 2007. He was one of the top three finalists for the Australian Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability award in 2006 and the Victorian Institute of Sport Award of Excellence in 2007. He also received the Victorian Institute of Sport Coaches Award for Cycling in 2006. In 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, he was named the Cycling Australia Male Para-cyclist of the Year. In 2008, he was one of eighty Australians to participate in 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 ...

torch relay. In November 2013, he was named Cycling Australia's Elite Male Para-Cyclist of the Year.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Michael 1978 births Living people Australian male cyclists Paralympic cyclists for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics UCI Para-cycling World Champions Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Scottish emigrants to Australia Victorian Institute of Sport alumni Doping cases in cycling Doping cases in Australian cycling Cyclists from Melbourne