Danny Clark (cyclist)
Daniel "Danny" Clark OAM[1] (born 30 August 1951[2] in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia) is a retired track cyclist and road bicycle racer from Australia, who was a professional rider from 1974 to 1997. He won five world championships and at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, came second in the 1,000m time trial.[3]
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| Full name | Daniel Clark | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 30 August 1951 Launceston, Tasmania, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Track | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major wins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| European championships:
Omnium 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988 Derny 1985, 1986, 1990 Motor-paced 1988 Madison 1979, 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Clark was often fastest finishing rider in six-day races, especially as Patrick Sercu slowed after the mid-1970s. Clark and the British rider, Tony Doyle, won many six-day races. Clark enjoyed the party atmosphere of the races, and continued to work in them as a Derny pacer after retiring.
Biography
Clark began cycling on a bike borrowed from a local enthusiast, which he used for three months before acquiring his eldest brother's semi-racer.[4] He became one of the most successful riders in six-day racing in the 1970s and 1980s, winning 74 races, second to Patrick Sercu's 88. Most of these wins came after a crash in the 1983 Frankfurt six-day which broke his hip. Clark still carries a plate inserted to help the fracture heal and said that when sprinting or climbing, only his right leg delivered full power.[4]
Clark won the Australian one-mile penny-farthing championship in Evandale, Tasmania, in 1989, beating the Briton Doug Pinkerton and Matthew Driver.[5]
Major results
Olympic Games
- Munich 1972:
World championships
- Besançon 1980:
- Brno 1981:
- Leicester 1982:
- Zurich 1983:
- Bassano del Grappa 1985:
- Colorado Springs 1986:
- Vienna 1987:
- Ghent 1988:
- Maebashi 1990:
- Stuttgart 1991:
Six-days
- Nouméa: 1972 with Malcom Hill
- Sydney: 1974 with Frank Atkins
- Ghent: 1976, 1979, 1982 with Don Allan, 1986 with Tony Doyle, 1987, 1994 with Etienne De Wilde, 1990 with Roland Günther
- Münster: 1977, 1980 with Don Allan, 1988 with Tony Doyle
- Rotterdam: 1977, 1978, 1985 with René Pijnen, 1981 with Don Allan, 1986 with Francesco Moser, 1987 with Pierangelo Bincoletto, 1988 with Tony Doyle
- Antwerp: 1978 with Freddy Maertens, 1987 with Etienne De Wilde
- London: 1978, 1980 with Don Allan
- Copenhagen: 1978 with Don Allan, 1986, 1987 with Tony Doyle, 1989, 1992 with Urs Freuler, 1990, 1991 with Jens Veggerby, 1995 with Jimmi Madsen
- Herning: 1978, 1982 with Don Allan
- Bremen: 1979 with René Pijnen, 1987 with Dietrich Thurau, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1990 with Roland Günther, 1994 with Andreas Kappes
- Maastricht: 1979 with Don Allan, 1984 with René Pijnen, 1985, 1987 with Tony Doyle
- Hannover: 1980 with Don Allan
- Cologne: 1980 with René Pijnen, 1985 with Dietrich Thurau, 1989 with Tony Doyle
- Munich: 1980, 1981 with Don Allan, 1986 with Dietrich Thurau, 1988, 1990 with Tony Doyle
- Grenoble: 1980 with Bernard Thévenet, 1989 with Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
- Dortmund: 1982 with Henry Rinklin, 1983, 1986, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1987 with Roman Hermann, 1991, 1995 with Rolf Aldag
- Berlin: 1983, 1986, 1988 with Tony Doyle, 1984 with Horst Schütz, 1985 with Hans-Henrik Ørsted
- Bassano del Grappa: 1986 with Roberto Amadio and Francesco Moser, 1988 with Francesco Moser, 1989 with Adriano Baffi
- Launceston: 1986 with Tony Doyle
- Paris: 1986 with Bernard Vallet, 1988 with Tony Doyle
- Stuttgart: 1989 with Uwe Bolten, 1992 with Pierangelo Bincoletto, 1995 with Etienne De Wilde
- Buenos Aires: 1993 with Marcelo Alexandre
- Nouméa: 2000 with Graeme Brown
European championships
- Omnium 1978, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988
- Derny 1985, 1986, 1990
- Motor-paced 1988
- Madison 1979 with Don Allan, 1988 with Tony Doyle
Honours
Clark received a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1986[1] and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1987.[6] He received an Australian Sports Medal and a Centenary Medal in 2001.[7][8]
References
- "Clark, Daniel, OAM". It's an Honour. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- Site du Cyclisme, Rider database, Danny Clark
- "Danny Clark Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- Licorice Gallery, Interview with Danny Clark
- Canberra Bicycle Museum, Article about Danny Clark sourced from "Freewheel" Issue 11, New Zealand Archived 4 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- "Danny Clark". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- "Clark, Danny: Australian Sports Medal". It's an Honour. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
- "Clark, Daniel: Centenary Medal". It's an Honour. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
External links
- Danny Clark at Cycling Archives
- Cycling Article at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 October 2009)
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