CYCLING BIO
Born 14 August 1927
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died 29 November 1999 (aged 72)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
To win the amateur sprint world title one year and the pursuit world title the next is unthinkable. Not for Sid Patterson, who achieve this extraordinary feat, being crowned world champion in the sprint, in 1949, followed by the individual pursuit, in 1950.
Sid Patterson started racing when he was 13 years of age and while a teenager he won every Victorian and Australian title between the distances of 1000m and ten miles, on the track.
He was just beginning to mature when the team was chosen to compete in the 1948 London Olympics. He was the reserve for the sprint, finished sixth in the 1000m time trial and was in the Australian team that went out to Uruguay in the quarter finals of the 4000m team pursuit.
In 1949 he won every Australian track championship in the sprint, time trial, 1 mile, and 5 mile events.
At the 1950 Auckland British Empire Games he won silver medals for the 1000m sprint and 1000m time trial events.
Having already won world sprint and individual pursuit world titles, Patterson became a professional in 1951 and won the world professional individual pursuit championships in 1952, in Paris, and in 1953, in Zurich.
Patterson teamed with Russell Mockridge and Roger Arnold to win the Paris 6-day race in 1955, defeating the French favourites.
Throughout the 1950s and 60s Patterson dominated professional track cycling in every discipline from the sprint to 6-day races.
He was Athlete of the Year in 1949 and retired from competitive cycling in 1968. The 'Sid Patterson Grand Prix' is held in Melbourne, each year, in his honour.
Major Achievements
- 1st UCI Track World Championships 1949, amateur sprint
- 1st UCI Track World Championships 1950, amateur individual pursuit
- 1st UCI Track World Championships 1952, professional individual pursuit
- 1st UCI Track World Championships 1953, professional individual pursuit
- 1st Paris Six-Day 1955 (with Russell Mockridge and Roger Arnold)
- 2nd British Empire Games (Commonwealth Games) 1950, sprint
- 2nd British Empire Games (Commonwealth Games) 1950, 1km time trial
