The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which were held in Stockholm, Sweden, in June 1956.
The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held in Melbourne, Australia between 15 and 26 March 2006. It was the fourth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games. It was also the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.
The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium, in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the athletics and archery events venue. Other events were held at the purpose-built Sleeman Sports Complex in Chandler.
Alexander Nicholas Ernst Stieda is a former professional road bicycle racer from Canada. Stieda led five classifications of the Tour de France on the second day of the 1986 Tour de France: the general classification, the mountains classification, the combination classification, the intermediate sprints classification and the young rider classification, becoming the first North American to lead the Tour de France. He finished in 120th place, in his only Tour de France, riding on the 7-Eleven - Hoonved Cycling Team. He also placed bronze in the 1982 Australian Commonwealth Games, and competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics for his native country. At the 1983 Summer Universiade he won the bronze medal in the men's individual pursuit. He also competed in the individual pursuit and points race events at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Alex is the co-founder of the Tour of Alberta professional cycling race.
Brian Clifford Walton is a Canadian cycling coach and former professional road and track cyclist. His racing career spanned 18 years, racing professionally for North American pro teams 7-Eleven, Motorola, and Saturn. He represented Canada at the Pan American Games, Commonwealth Games, and the Olympic Games in 1988, 1996 and 2000. He won a silver medal in the points race at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Walton was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Kelly-Ann Way is a Canadian retired track cyclist and road bicycle racer.
Peter Szmidt is a Canadian swimmer, competing in the freestyle events during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Richard Davis Johnstone was a New Zealand track and road cyclist who participated in the 1964 Summer Olympic games, the 1958 and 1962 Commonwealth Games.
The Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix is a criterium cycling race held in Gastown, the oldest neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Erinne Willock is a Canadian professional road cyclist. She represented Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and also claimed a silver medal in the women's time trial at the 2006 Pan American Road and Track Championships in Valencia, Venezuela. Willock currently races for TIBCO-To-The-Top pro cycling team since she joined in 2011.
Gina Grain is a Canadian retired professional road and track cyclist. She won a silver medal in women' scratch at the 2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Bordeaux, France, and later represented Canada at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Before retiring to focus on her personal life and kinesiology career in 2010, she raced with a number of Canadian, American and Hong Kong road teams.
Max Grace is a former New Zealand cyclist. He competed in the individual road race and team time trial events at the 1964 Summer Olympics. In 1969 Grace switched nationalities to Canadian and went on to win three Canadian National Championships.
Deborah Dawn "Debbie" Scott-Bowker is a Canadian former middle- and long-distance runner. A three-time Olympian for Canada, she reached the 1500 m final in 1984, and both the 1500 m and 3000 m finals in 1988. She was also a three-time World Championship finalist, reaching the 1500 m and 3000 m finals in 1987, and the 1500 m final in 1991.
The men's track time trial cycling event at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place on 30 July and was one of eight cycling events at the 1984 Olympics. There were 25 competitors from 25 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist. Two other cyclists entered but did not start. The event was won by Fredy Schmidtke of West Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's track time trial and the third consecutive Games in which a German cyclist won. Curt Harnett earned Canada's first medal in the event with his silver, while France returned to the podium for the first time since 1968 with Fabrice Colas's bronze.
Gordon Singleton was a Canadian world-record holding track cyclist. In 1982, he became the first Canadian cyclist to win a world championship. He was the first, and only, cyclist in history to simultaneously hold world records in all three of track cycling's sprint races: the 200m, 500m and 1000m distances, all in a 24-hour span from October 9–10 in 1980. An Olympic racer, he was deprived of competing in the 1980 Summer Olympics at the peak of his career by Canada's boycott of those games in Moscow. He also competed and won gold medals in the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games, and the 1979 Puerto Rico Pan Am Games for Canada. At the end of 1986, he was named a Companion of the Order of Canada. In his middle-age, he continued to cycle and took part in Master Series races, getting a bronze medal at the Canadian Nationals for his age group in 2014. He was inducted into the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame in October 2015 along with some of his teammates from the 1970s and 1980s. His hometown of Niagara Falls, Ontario celebrated him many times over his life, including in 2004, as their best athlete in its first 100 years. After his cycling career was over, he took over his father's automotive parts business in Niagara Falls. In 2023, he was diagnosed with Cancer, and died from the disease in March 2024.
Martin Willock is a Canadian former cyclist. He competed in the team time trial event at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Peter Longbottom was a British road racing and time triallist cyclist. He won more than 40 national championship medals and won bronze and silver medals in the team time trial event at the 1990 and 1994 Commonwealth Games.
Jeffrey Hirst is a Canadian diver. He competed in the men's 10 metre platform event at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He also competed at the 1982 and 1986 Commonwealth Games, as well as the 1983, 1985 and 1987 Summer Universiades. In 2002, Hirst was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame.
Claire Backhouse-Sharpe is a Canadian badminton player and coach. Between 1978 and 1994, she competed in five editions of the Commonwealth Games for Canada, winning a single gold medal and five silver medals. Backhouse-Sharpe also participated in the World Badminton Championships and Uber Cup on five occasions each as part of the Canada national badminton team. She won multiple national and regional titles and was assistant coach and manager of the British Columbia Badminton team at the 1994 Canada Winter Games and the 1995 Western Canada Games. Backhouse-Sharpe was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Badminton Canada Hall of Fame.
Linda Cuthbert is a Canadian former diver and present sports director of Commonwealth Sport Canada since 2006, having also served as a technical official for several commonwealth games. During her diving career, Cuthbert won a bronze medal in each of the 1975 and 1979 Pan American Games platform diving events, as well as a gold medal in the 1978 Commonwealth Games 10 metre highboard event. Cuthbert began diving at age 10 and started to take it seriously in 1967, when she had a series of different coaches until settling with Don Webb, who became her permanent coach.
