Dean Woods

Dean Anthony Woods OAM[1] (22 June 1966 – 3 March 2022) was an Australian racing cyclist from Wangaratta in Victoria known for his track cycling at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. On Australia Day 1985 he was awarded the Order of Australia medal for service to cycling. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[2]

For the neighborhood in Northeast Washington, D.C., see Deanwood.

Dean Woods
OAM
Personal information
Full nameDean Anthony Woods
NicknameWoodsy
Born(1966-06-22)22 June 1966
Wangaratta, Australia
Died3 March 2022(2022-03-03) (aged 55)
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight90 kg (198 lb)
Team information
DisciplineTrack
RoleRider
Rider typePursuit
Professional teams
1989–1991Stuttgart–Merckx–Gonsor
1992Southern Sun – M.N.E.T.
1993Jayco
Medal record
Men's track cycling
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1984 Los AngelesTeam pursuit
Silver medal – second place1988 SeoulIndividual pursuit
Bronze medal – third place1988 SeoulTeam pursuit
Bronze medal – third place1996 AtlantaTeam pursuit
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place1986 EdinburghIndividual pursuit
Gold medal – first place1986 EdinburghTeam pursuit
Silver medal – second place1986 Edinburgh10 miles scratch
Gold medal – first place1994 Victoria BCTeam pursuit
Bronze medal – third place1994 Victoria BCPoints race

Career

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Woods, with teammates Michael Grenda, Kevin Nichols and Michael Turtur, won the 4000m team pursuit.[3] Critics did not give them much chance. The team was coached by Charlie Walsh and dubbed "Charlie's Angels". In the final the Australians defeated the United States by 3.86 seconds, even though the Australians were riding conventional bikes while the Americans had high-tech machines. Woods told The Border Mail in 2004, "Expectations weren't high for us from the press, but we thought we would do pretty well. We had a close team."

In the 4000m individual pursuit Woods was beaten for bronze by Leonard Nitz (US).

At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Wayne McCarney, Stephen McGlede, Scott McGrory, Brett Dutton and Woods won the bronze medal for the team pursuit, defeated by the USSR (gold) and German Democratic Republic (silver). In the individual pursuit Woods won the silver medal.

Woods won a bronze medal in the team pursuit at the 1996 Summer Olympics. At the 1986 Commonwealth Games he won the individual pursuit event. At the 1990 Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic, Woods set the record of 5h 12m or 50.9 km/h for this 265 km race.

Woods established and worked at a bicycle shop, Dean Woods Direct, in Wangaratta but later sold it.

He died from cancer on 3 March 2022, at the age of 55.[4]

Major results

Sources:[5]

1989
5th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
8th Overall Tour de Picardie
1990
7th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
9th Benego Omloop
10th Overall Vuelta a Aragón
1991
4th Overall Tour of Sweden
1st Stage 1a (ITT)
1993
1st Stage 2 Herald Sun Tour

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 1990 1991
A yellow jersey Vuelta a España 124 112
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia — —
A yellow jersey Tour de France — —
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References
  1. "It's an Honour Website". Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  2. AIS Athletes at the Olympics Archived 6 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Dean Woods Olympic Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2 August 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  4. "Vale Dean Woods OAM: Olympic Gold Medallist Passes Away Aged 55", Australian Cycling website.
  5. "Dean Woods". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.