Leon Meredith
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| Full name | Leonard Lewis Meredith | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
2 February 1882 St Pancras, London, United Kingdom |
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| Died | 27 January 1930 (aged 47) Davos, Switzerland |
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| Discipline | Road and track | ||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rider type | Endurance | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Leonard "Leon" Lewis Meredith (2 February 1882 – 27 January 1930) was a British track and road racing cyclist who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics, in the 1912 Summer Olympics, and in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He won seven world championships and set up one of Britain's largest cycle-parts companies and ran a roller-skating rink and ballroom.
Meredith was born in St Pancras, London. Sources give his name at birth as Lewis Leon Meredith. However, reports in the cycling press refer to him as Leon Lewis Meredith, and friends called him Jack.
He was a mild-looking, bespectacled man who parted his hair in the centre. Cycling said:
There was something Clark Kent, the children's comic-book hero, in the make-up of Edwardian cyclist Meredith. Like Clark Kent he presented a mild, shy, bespectacled image off the bike, but once on the bike he became Superman, beating all and sundry in a devastating manner.
He was born in central London. He became interested in cycling in 1901 and made his first long ride, from London to Brighton, 80 km on badly surfaced roads. On the way he met riders from Paddington Cycling Club, neighbours in the region of London where he lived, and agreed to ride with them provided they didn't go too fast. It was Meredith, however, who set the pace and the other riders asked him to join their club. He rode his first race in the Finchley Harriers meeting on the track at Kensal Green, in north London, winning the one-mile handicap. By the end of the season he was the national tandem-paced champion over 50 miles (80 km). He finished 17 seconds outside the record and was cheered off the track.
Meredith worked for his uncle, William Boyer, a builder with a wharf on the canal in Praed Street, Paddington. Meredith cycled all over London visiting his uncle's building sites. When Meredith showed talent at racing, his uncle subsidised him. That meant he could have a full-time trainer, a masseur and that he could travel across Europe to meet the best opposition.
Meredith won his first world championship at Crystal Palace in London in 1904, beating the nine starters - four of them British - in the 100 km motor-paced event. He set off straight into the lead, passing five kilometres in 4m 49, 10 km in 9m 20s, 20 km in 18m 31s, and 30 km in 27m 30s. By then he was leading by five laps. He completed 50 km in 45m 15s and 80 km in 1h 15m 5s. Then his pacing motorcycle broke down and Meredith hit the track's banking and fell. He rolled across the track, turning somersaults. He got back to his feet, blood running, shouted for another bike and another pacer and finished the race 7m 19s faster than the world amateur record.
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