Another First for Greg LeMond: First Cyclist Honored with a Congressional Gold Medal
Last week, I attended a Congressional Gold Medal Award ceremony for Greg LeMond and it was one of the coolest Congressional events I’ve had the opportunity to attend. The Air Force string quartet, the medal designed specifically for LeMond, and all the pomp and circumstance made it memorable.
Greg LeMond famously won the Tour de France in 1986, becoming the first American man to do so. Then, a nearly fatal hunting accident upon returning home resulted in LeMond losing 70 percent of his blood volume.
For a while, it looked like his cycling career was over.
By 1989, he recovered enough to race in the Tour, but he was not considered a favorite to win, and he was not on a particularly strong team. His goal was to finish in the top 20.
Incredibly, on the final day of 21 days of racing, LeMond grabbed his second win by eight seconds.
Going into the last day’s time trial, LeMond was 50 seconds behind Frenchman Laurent Fignon. Conventional wisdom held that the time trial’s 24.5 kilometer distance was too short to make up such a big time gap. Fignon had already congratulated LeMond on coming in second. For the race against the clock, LeMond used every innovation he could including aerobars, aero helmet and a “funny bike” meant to help him be more aerodynamic. LeMond’s time trial was 58 seconds faster than Fignon and the closest finish in a men’s Tour de France.
But it was more than his racing career that earned LeMond such a special day on Capitol Hill.
What I hadn’t known before the ceremony was how broad LeMond’s work has been in his retirement. He’s lent his expertise to his independent bike brand, LeMond Bicycles, making e-bikes for riders of all types. He’s also an ambassador and sponsor for World T.E.A.M. (The Exceptional Athlete Matters) and has promoted and biked in rides to empower cyclists with disabilities, including a 1995 ride around the world to celebrate para-athletes. Seven riders, six of whom were athletes with disabilities, covered 13,000 miles through 16 countries. A 1998 Vietnam Challenge ride paired veterans and disabled athletes from both sides of the conflict on a 16-day, 1,250-mile bicycle expedition from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.
LeMond is committed to ride in another World T.E.A.M. ride next year in Gettysburg. LeMond also promotes support for healthy active kids, victims of sexual assault, and, of course, anti-doping in sports.
Representative Mike Thompson, Co-Chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus, sponsored the bill to award LeMond the medal (which takes the support of two-thirds of the House and Senate) and described LeMond as warm and humble.
Rep. Thompson said that when he first talked to LeMond about pursuing the Congressional honor, the first that would award a cyclist, LeMond suggested that Major Taylor might even be a better candidate for it. (And now such an honor is being pursued through Congress!)
Overall, it was a joy and honor to meet Greg LeMond and to be part of the celebration.