Eddie Borysewicz
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Edward Borysewicz |
Born | Poland | March 18, 1939
Died | November 16, 2020 Drezdenko, Poland | (aged 81)
Team information | |
Rider type | Road, track |
Amateur teams | |
1958–1964 | Polish Junior Team |
Polish National Road Team[1] | |
Managerial teams | |
1976–2004 | Coach to junior national Polish team |
North Jersey Bicycle Club (circa 1977) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.[1] | |
Major wins | |
Polish National Junior Champion (twice)[1] Polish National Champion (twice)[1] Polish 'Master of Sport' award[1] 30 national and world championships for coaching[1] |
Edward Borysewicz (March 18, 1939 – November 16, 2020), sometimes known as "Eddie B", was 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.[2] Audrey McElmury won the World Road Cycling Championships in 1969, followed by Beth Heiden, in 1980.[3]
Background
Borysewicz was born in northeastern Poland, a region now a part of
He went to the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976 as assistant for the Polish team. He went from there to the state of New Jersey in the U.S., to see friends with whom he had raced for Poland.[3] There he became associated with the North Jersey Bicycle Club, whose jersey he was wearing when he met
National coach
Borysewicz opened an office at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in
When I started, there was nothing. No office, nothing. I was the first guy, who don't speak English. I have only a telephone and have even to buy a desk. That was '78, OK? We make big steps. I have so many riders who win the Olympics, world championship medals.[5]
His lack of English meant he had to use the son of a Polish friend, another cyclist, as a translator.
It really cuts your authority when you want to be commanding and you have to speak through a 12-year-old.[3]
He told all but one member of the national team that they were overweight and observed that America was "a land of fat people".[3]
He dispensed with established riders such as John Howard. Historian Peter Nye said:
Many suddenly former national team members became outspoken critics of the new national coach, claiming that he didn't understand the philosophy of US riders. Borysewicz's lack of English helped him miss much of the criticism as he introduced the concept that the team, not the individual, is what counts in racing. American racing over the years was marked by individuals going for the win rather than team tactics.[3]
Among the first riders Borysewicz developed was
The US did not send a team to the Olympic Games in Moscow. The Russians and most other communist nations then stayed away from men's cycling at the Games in Los Angeles four years later. That lessened competition but the four gold, three silver, and one bronze medal were the first Americans had won since 1912.[2]
Blood doping scandal
America's successes at Los Angeles were colored by revelations that riders had blood transfusions before their events, a practice known as blood doping or blood boosting. The transfusions were to increase red blood cells in riders' blood, thus taking more oxygen to their muscles. They received the blood of others with similar blood types.[6]
The French coach and former world champion,
Fraysse, who had brought Borysewicz's appointment as national coach, said: "We've been looking into this stuff for years and years and years. We weren't gonna fall behind the Russians or East Germans any more."[6] The practice was not against Olympic rules although Games medical guidelines discouraged it. Ed Burke, without Borysewicz's knowledge or approval, set up a clinic in a Los Angeles motel room. Four of the seven athletes who had transfusions won medals.[8] The US federation banned blood-doping in January 1985. Although Borysewicz denied involvement, both he and Burke were fined a month's pay. Fraysse was demoted from first to third vice-president.[9]
Professional coach
Eddie Borysewicz resigned as coach of the American national team in 1987
Borysewicz claimed Lance Armstrong as his discovery and not that of Armstrong's later coach, Chris Carmichael. When Carmichael said of his work at the US federation that he wished he had "five Lances", Borysewicz replied,
Why doesn't he (Chris Carmichael) produce Lances? That's his job. And anyway, Lance is not his product. Lance is my product.[10]
Personal life
He lived in
Death
After retiring from coaching in 2016, Borysewicz spent half the year in Ramona, California, and the other half in Poland. He died on November 16, 2020, at a hospital in Drezdenko, Poland, after contracting COVID-19. He was 81.[15]
Honors
- Borysewicz was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1996.[2]
- Borysewicz was awarded the Super Master of Sports title, the country's highest award to athletes.[13]
- Borysewicz received the "Father of Modern American Cycling" award at the Endurance Sports Awards in San Diego.[16][17]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Eddie's Story". Eddie B. Cycling World Fitness. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008.
- ^ a b c "1996 Inductees – Eddie B' Borysewicz". US Bicycling Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on October 14, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nye, Peter (1988). Hearts of Lions. Norton.
- ^ "Half a Tour de France Isn't Enough for Eddie B". The New York Times. October 12, 2008.
- ^ International Herald Tribune, 27 March 1992.
- ^ a b c "The Triumphs Tainted With Blood". Sports Illustrated. January 21, 1985. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008.
- ^ "Morelon et la fabrique américaine". L'Équipe. August 4, 1978.
- ^ "Are Drugs Winning the games?". Time. September 11, 2000. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012.
- ^ "Cycle Group Bans Use of Blood Doping". The New York Times. October 12, 2008.
- ^ a b Telegram & Gazette. July 7, 1996.
- ^ "Cyclists Drop Out of Race, but Pass Test". The New York Times. August 16, 1988.
- ^ Alsedek, John (2000). "Team US Postal Service". Cycling News.
- ^ a b "Eddy Borysewicz House Destroyed in San Diego". Kentucky Cycling List. November 2, 2003. Archived from the original on May 3, 2013.
- ^ "Olympic Coach Rebuilds Life, Rekindles Friendships". 10 News. 2003.
- ^ "Controversial former US national team director contracted COVID-19 while in Poland". Cyclingnews.com. November 17, 2020.
- ^ Eddies World
- ^ "Greg Lemond's Fantasy Cycling Camp, San Diego, California, February 4–9, 2004, Eddie B named 'Father of modern American cycling' at Endurance Awards banquet". Cycling News.