Eddie Borysewicz
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Edward Borysewicz |
| Born | March 18, 1939 |
| Team information | |
| Rider type | Road, track |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 1958-1964 | Polish Junior Team |
| Polish National Road Team | |
| Managerial team(s) | |
| 1976-2004 | Coach to junior national Polish team |
| North Jersey Bicycle Club (circa 1977) | |
| Coach to USA team at 1980 and 1984 Olympics | |
| 1988 Sunkyong Amateur team | |
| 1989 Montgomery/Avenir Pro Cycling Team | |
| 1990 Subaru Montgomery Pro cycling team | |
| 1994 Montgomery Bell Pro Team | |
| 1996 US Postal Services team | |
| 2004 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. | |
| Major wins | |
| Polish National Junior Champion (twice) Polish National Champion (twice) Polish 'Master of Sport' award 30 national and world championships for coaching |
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Edward 'Eddie B' Borysewicz (born March 18, 1939) is a cycling coach who brought the United States to world prominence, even though at first he barely spoke English. The US team, under his direction, won nine medals at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. It was the first time Americans had won medals since 1912.
Borysewicz was born in northeastern Poland, a region now a part of Belarus. He was originally a runner. He changed to cycling in his youth, quickly showing talent in races and twice becoming junior national champion. Two years of military national service followed, during which the army denied him a place in its sports battalion because, he said, his father was anti-communist. He was misdiagnosed with tuberculosis after leaving the army but recovered to win two more national championships. The effects of tuberculosis treatment, however, adversely affected his liver so he stopped racing and sought a degree in physical education at the University of Warsaw. He claims 30 national and world championships for his subsequent coaching, among them Mieczysław Nowicki, later appointed Minister of Sport in Poland.
He went to the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976 as assistant for the Polish team. He went from there to New Jersey, USA, to see friends with whom he had raced for Poland. There he became associated with the North Jersey Bicycle Club, whose jersey he was wearing when he met Mike Fraysse, chairman of the American cycling federation's competition committee, in a cycle shop. The federation had gained money for coaching and support of athletes from President Jimmy Carter's inquiry into the domination in sport by what were perceived to be state-sponsored amateurs from communist countries. Fraysee spoke to Borysewicz about bringing his experience of Polish sports schools. They spoke in French because Borysewicz spoke no English. Next year the US federation took on Borysewicz as its first full-time coach. His riders referred to him as "Eddie B" because they could not master his surname, pronounced Borisevich.
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Wikipedia