Alfred Goullet
 |
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alf Goullet |
| Born |
5 April 1891 Gippsland, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 11 March 1995 (aged 103) Toms River, New Jersey, US |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Track |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Six-day |
Alf Goullet (5 April 1891 – 11 March 1995) was an Australian cyclist who won more than 400 races on three continents, including 15 six-day races. He set world records from two-thirds of a mile to 50 miles, and the record for the distance ridden in a six-day race.
Goullet – pronounced to rhyme with roulette – was born in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia and grew up in Emu, 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Melbourne. He created a cycling track at home by leading a horse as it dragged a log to clear the grass. He made a name in Australia and was contracted to ride in the United States. He landed at New York in winter 1910 "in a snowstorm, wearing a sleeveless shirt and a straw hat because it was summer at home." He was 19. He settled in Newark and raced on outdoor tracks set in parks and sports grounds.
In Salt Lake City in 1912 he set world records at two-thirds of a mile, three-quarters of a mile and a mile. A reporter there wrote:
Alfred Goullet, sensation of the cycle racing world, declares that the women of Salt Lake are the most beautiful he has ever seen. He is not quite 21 years old and is one of the cleanest, most straightforward and likeable athletes who ever appeared here. But Goullet is not a woman's man. He likes to admire from a distance. In fact, he does not allow any counter attractions to interfere with his determination to become the cycle racing champion of the world.
That winter Goullet won the first Paris six-day race, paired with Joe Fogler of Brooklyn. He returned to America and in November 1914 won the six-day at Madison Square Garden, paired with another Australian, Alfred Grenda. The 2,759.2 miles (4,440.5 km) they covered is still a record. Goullet rode the last hour of the race - a six-day relay race - without Grenda's help. His partner had appendicitis.
He wrote in the Saturday Evening Post after his first six-day race in New York:
My knees were sore, I was suffering from stomach trouble, my hands were so numb I couldn't open them wide enough to button my collar for a month, and my eyes were so irritated I couldn't, for a long time, stand smoke in a room.
Goullet took American nationality in 1916. He joined the navy when the USA joined World War I in 1917 but never left the country.
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Wikipedia