Steele Bishop
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Steele Bishop (born 29 April 1953) is an Australian former track and road racing cyclist and 5,000 m individual pursuit world champion in 1983. In 2018 he returned to competitive track cycling winning Gold in the West Australian State Masters Individual Pursuit. His biography was published 2019.


Biography

Bishop was born in 1953 in
Subiaco, Western Australia Subiaco (known colloquially as Subi) is an inner-Western suburbs (Perth), western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. H ...
.''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 ...
From 1971 until his retirement in 1984 Bishop won numerous Australian professional track titles, including the 5,000 metre pursuit eight times. In Western Australia, he won the ''Westral Wheelrace'' six times between 1975 and 1984 and won the first two ''Griffin 1000'' road races. In 1972, at the age of 19, Bishop represented Australia in the 4000 metre team pursuit at the
Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...
. In the world championships in Zurich in 1983 Bishop reached his zenith, winning the professional 5,000 m individual pursuit title. He rode in the 5,000 metre
Individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...
on a specially built pursuit bicycle made in Switzerland by Leo Estermann in 1981. The bicycle was badged
Malvern Star Malvern Star is a manufacturer of bicycles based in Melbourne, Australia. The company was established in 1902, and went on to become a known brand in Australia. History Malvern Star opened in a small shop at 58 Glenferrie Rd, in the Melbourn ...
by sponsor General Accessories, and later rebadged Steele Bishop. The Estermann stamp on the head tube remains. A crack in the unusual stem was rectified by Avocet Cycles, owned and operated by John Sampson in Claremont Western Australia (no longer in business). The bicycle was relatively small framed for the powerfully built Bishop and featured aerodynamic tubing to reduce wind resistance. The bicycle, now part of the collection of the
Western Australian Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory body, statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, WA Museum Boola Bardip, is located i ...
, is on display at the WA Museum Boola Bardip site in the Perth Cultural Centre. Bishop faced off against Swiss Robert Dill-Bundi, the 1980 Olympic pursuit gold medallist, in the 1983 pursuit final. Riding the race of his life, he caught his opponent three laps from the finish, a feat almost unheard of in world-class cycling, thus winning the race and the championship. He set a personal best in the race of 5 minutes 51 seconds and became the first Australian to beat 6 minutes in the event. He retired shortly after while at the peak of his career. Bishop was awarded the
Western Australian Sports Star of the Year The Western Australian Sports Star Award, currently presented at the SportWest Awards, is an annual award for sportspeople from the Australian state of Western Australia and/or playing for teams based in Western Australia. It has been running sinc ...
award in 1983 and was inducted into the
Western Australian Hall of Champions The Western Australian Hall of Champions was created in 1983 by the then-recently created Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS). The Sportswriters' Association of Western Australia had suggested the development of a Hall of Champions to ...
in 1985. Also in 1985 he was awarded the Medal of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
. He returned to competitive track cycling in 2018 winning Gold in the West Australian State Masters Individual Pursuit and setting an unofficial world record. At the Australian Masters Track Cycling Championships in Brisbane in April 2019 he won three gold medals. At the UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester, UK in October 2019 he won gold medals in four men's 65-69 events; time trial, pursuit, 20 lap scratch race and the 40 lap points race. He also set a new world record in the qualifying round of the men's 65-69 2 km pursuit with a time of 2.24.646. Bishop's autobiography, ''Wheels of Steele — The Makings of a World Champion,'' was released in 2019 by Rockpool Publishing — see Official Website link below.


References


External links

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WA Historical Cycle Club
article about Steele's Championship bike {{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Steele 1953 births Living people Australian male cyclists Cyclists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Australia Cyclists from Perth, Western Australia Western Australian Sports Star of the Year winners UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Australian track cyclists Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sportsmen from Western Australia 20th-century Australian sportsmen