Sam Willoughby
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| Born |
15 August 1991 Bedford Park, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 87 kg (192 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Current team | Redline Bicycles | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | BMX | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Infobox last updated on 16 August 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sam Willoughby (born 15 August 1991 in Bedford Park, South Australia) is an Australian BMX cyclist also known as 'the BMX bandit'. He competed in the men's BMX at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a silver medal on 10 August 2012 behind Māris Štrombergs of Latvia.[2]
Willoughby left his Adelaide home at age 16 with a backpack, a meagre bank account balance and his BMX bike for California. He stayed at the home of fellow cyclists until he earned enough money from winning races to afford a room in a motel. He won the junior BMX title in 2008 and again in 2009. Willoughby advanced into the senior ranks within two years of his arrival. He won his first senior BMX world championship in May 2012, which advanced his ranking to the number one spot in the world. Willoughby supports educating children about bicycle education through the Happiness Cycle.
Sam was injured on Sept. 10th 2016 during training, leaving him paralyzed.
In 2012, he won the Australian Institute of Sport Junior Athlete of the Year Award.[3]
Willoughby presently lives in San Diego.
References
- 1 2 "Sam Willoughby". rio2016.com. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- ↑ "London Olympics: Strombergs defends men's BMX title". Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- ↑ Dutton, Chris (17 November 2012). "Slingsby shares top gong with Coutts". Canberra Times. Retrieved 16 November 2012.