Profile
Born in Ashford, Kent, Staff started in BMX when he was 9 years old, after seeing friends riding. [2] A BMX rider who has won just about everything from the World Championships downwards, he decided at the end of 2001 that he wanted to win an Olympic medal. As BMX was not an Olympic sport at the time, he turned his attention to track cycling.
He qualified for the GB Cycling Team at the first attempt. A natural competitor, he revels in the combative nature of the Sprint and the keirin, though his stand-out rides so far have been in the team sprint and the Kilo.
At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, he was a member of the silver medal-winning England team sprint trio, an impressive semi-finalist in the sprint (during which he broke the national 200 m record) and the winner of a bronze in the Kilometer, behind GB team-mates Chris Hoy and Jason Queally.
However, he surpassed all expectations when he helped GB to win a gold medal in the team sprint at the 2002 UCI Track World Championships in Copenhagen, less than a year after taking up track racing. In 2003 he continued to progress, recording two personal best times in the "Kilo" (1 km time trial) and a win in the Mexico World Cup in the discipline. [3]
In 2004 he competed at the Athens Olympics in the keirin and team sprint, but not medalling in either. This was despite becoming Keirin world champion only months before and setting the second fastest time in the Team Sprint competition, only to be knocked out by the German team, who set the fastest time.
He continued to focus on the sprint, achieving multiple silvers and bronzes at World Championships, and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He finally tasted success again in the World Record-breaking British team sprint trio at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Staff was responsible for the fastest ever first lap in a team sprint.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours. [4]
He announced his retirement from racing on 28 March 2010. [5] In June it was announced that he would be joining USA Cycling to manage the USA national track sprint program. [6]
Staff plans to set up a Youth Cycling Academy in Kent, UK in the near future which he will travel to and from the US and regularly oversee, the aim being to encourage new British talent. [7]
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