Shaun Wallace (born 20 November 1961) is a British former professional cyclist who competed in two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

and three

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

and rode for multiple American-based teams.

British career

Wallace represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the individual pursuit and a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the team pursuit, at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Twelve years later he won another silver medal in the individual pursuit at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in Canada and followed this up four years later by winning a further silver medal in the scratch race, 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 ...

, Malaysia.

US career

After successes in his native

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

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 ...

, including winning British Championships over distances of 1 km, 4 km and 20 km, Wallace moved to the USA where he continued his career as an amateur, and from 1986 onward as a Professional Cyclist for a variety of teams and sponsors: * 1987: Alfa-Romeo * 1988: Sunkyonk SKC * 1989 Wheaties-Schwinn * 1990: Schwinn/Pure-Power/Bowflex * 1991: Scott-BiKyle Cycles In 2003 Wallace was one of the inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome 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 ...

, where he had based from during most of his cycling career. A tribute night had been held in his honor there in 1997. As a masters cyclist, Wallace returned to the UK in 2002 to compete for the first time at the World Masters Track Cycling Championships where he won both the 40-44 age group Pursuit, and the Points race events. More recently (2017 and previous years), Wallace has coached at the San Diego Velodrome.

Altitude Training and Simulation

Throughout his cycling career Wallace made significant use of altitude training to optimize his performance, first with trips to Colorado Springs, and later went on to be a pioneer in the application of the "Live High - Train Low" method by renting a cabin to sleep at Woodland Park CO (8465'), driving down to train on the Colorado Springs Velodrome (6035'), then driving up Pikes Peak (14,114') for an afternoon rest, and training in the evening whist breathing oxygen-enhanced air to simulate sea level (0'). In 1995 Wallace used a personal hypobaric chamber to prepare for the World Championships held in Bogota (8661') Colombia, and in 1996 took the chamber with him into the Olympic Athletes Village in Atlanta where he represented Great Britain. The following year Wallace developed and built the world's first

Altitude tent An altitude tent is a sealed tent used to simulate a higher altitude with reduced oxygen. Living or training at altitude causes the body to adapt to the lower oxygen content by producing more oxygen-carrying red blood cells and hemoglobin, thus ...

which simulated altitude by changing the composition of the gas mixture inside the tent rather than reduce the pressure. The Wallace Altitude Tent went on to become the world's first commercially available product of this type. Wallace has continued to work in the simulated-altitude industry, developing systems for a variety of applications including pilot training at 30,000', controlled exercise and sleeping systems for athletes, and controlled oxygen-enrichment systems to provide relief from altitude-related problems for residents living in mountain locations.

References

External links

* http://www.thevelodrome.com/hall-of-fame/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Shaun 1961 births Living people English male cyclists British male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Great Britain Cyclists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Cyclists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Cyclists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Christchurch, Dorset Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists in cycling