Michael Blatchford

{{Short description|American cyclist (born 1986)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox cyclist

| name = Michael Blatchford

| image =

| caption =

| fullname = Michael Benjamin Blatchford

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1986|1|29}}

| birth_place = Cypress, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{cvt|178|cm|ftin|order=flip}}

| weight = {{cvt|82|kg|lb|order=flip}}

| currentteam =

| discipline = Track

| role = Rider

| ridertype = Sprinter

| amateuryears1 =

| amateurteam1 =

| proyears1 = 2008

| proteam1 = Cody Racing

| proyears2 = 2011–2012

| proteam2 = Project London 2012

| majorwins =

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport | Men's track cycling}}

{{MedalCountry|the {{USA}}}}

{{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}}

{{MedalSilver | 2011 Guadalajara | Team sprint }}

{{MedalCompetition|Pan American Championships}}

{{MedalGold|2007 Valencia|Sprint}}

{{MedalGold|2012 Mar del Plata|Team sprint}}

{{MedalSilver|2007 Valencia|Team sprint}}

{{MedalSilver|2011 Medellin|Team sprint}}

{{MedalBronze|2005 Mar del Plata|Sprint}}

{{MedalBronze|2005 Mar del Plata|Team sprint}}

{{MedalBronze|2006 São Paulo|Team sprint}}

| show-medals = yes

}}

Michael Benjamin Blatchford (born January 29, 1986, in Cypress, California) is an American professional track cyclist.{{cite sports-reference|title = Michael Blatchford|url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bl/michael-blatchford-1.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200418060612/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bl/michael-blatchford-1.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = April 18, 2020|access-date = October 16, 2013}} Considered one of the youngest and most dynamic American sprinters on the present-day track circuit, Blatchford has held two Pan American and four U.S. national championship titles in his career resume since he scored his first triumph as an eighteen-year-old junior in 2004. He also represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics and eventually led off the Americans for the silver medal in men's team sprint at the 2011 Pan American Games. Blatchford currently races for Project London 2012 pro cycling team, and works as a resident athlete for the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.{{cite news |title=USA Cycling announces 2012 Track World Championships roster |url=http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=19918 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131017100430/http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=19918 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 17, 2013 |publisher=Daily Peloton |date=March 19, 2013 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}}

Racing career

Growing up in Cypress, California, where he was home-schooled through high school, Blatchford started his cycling career at age thirteen, when he first discovered the now-defunct Olympic Velodrome that hosted the track cycling tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics.{{cite news |title=Michael Blatchford: "Nothing to Lose" |url=http://thegoodnewsplus.com/content/michael-blatchford-nothing-lose |publisher=The Good News Plus |date=October 17, 2010 |accessdate=October 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017131018/http://thegoodnewsplus.com/content/michael-blatchford-nothing-lose |archivedate=October 17, 2013}} Blatchford's visit and fascination had thereby inspired him to become a track sprinter, and eventually claimed the silver medal at the 2004 UCI Junior World Championships in Los Angeles.{{cite news |last=Scrymgeour |first=Kristy |title=Second gold for Perkins |url=http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/track/2004/jul04/juniorworlds04/?id=men_sprint |publisher=Cycling News |date=August 1, 2004 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}} On that same year, he outclassed Giddeon Massie and Christian Stahl for an elite U.S. national title in men's sprint that officially marked his debut as a force to be reckoned with on the domestic and international track cycling scene.

Shortly after his early success, Blatchford became one of the resident athletes of the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His sporting career continued to flourish with a bronze medal in men's sprint at the 2006 UCI World Cup series in Los Angeles, followed by an impressive, gold medal effort for the U.S. cycling team at the 2007 Pan American Road and Track Championships in Valencia, Venezuela.{{cite news |title=LA Track World Cup 2006 – Day 2 Evening Session |url=http://pedalmag.com/la-track-world-cup-2006-day-2-evening-session/ |publisher=Canadian Cycling Magazine |date=August 1, 2004 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}}{{cite news |title=Blatchford, madison team win Pan Am gold, team sprint wins silver |url=http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=2970 |publisher=USA Cycling |date=May 24, 2007 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}}

With an aim on the team sprint event for the Olympics in 2008, Blatchford teamed up with Olympians Massie and Adam Duvendeck to set a new U.S. record of 45.128 seconds at the UCI World Championships in Manchester, England.{{cite news |title=Phinney records fastest pursuit yet in 8th-place finish at World's |url=http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3501 |publisher=USA Cycling |date=March 26, 2008 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}}

Following a stunning performance from the World Championships, Blatchford qualified for two track cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing by recording the fastest entry time, and earning an automatic berth from the USA Cycling Team's Selection Camp.{{cite news |title=Phinney clocks world record, Lea, Blatchford look ahead to Beijing |url=http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3669 |publisher=USA Cycling |date=June 16, 2008 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}}{{cite news |title=USA Cycling adds Lea, Blatchford to Olympic roster |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2008-06-17-2959915166_x.htm |publisher=USA Today |date=June 17, 2008 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}} In the men's team sprint, held on the first day of the track program, Blatchford helped his teammates Massie and Duvendeck set an eighth-place time in 45.346 (an average speed of 59.542 km/h) on the morning prelims before they were knocked off by the Brits (led by Olympic legend Chris Hoy) in the first round.{{cite web |title=Men's Team Sprint First Round |url=http://www.2008.nbcolympics.com/cycling/resultsandschedules/rsc=CTM401800/index.html |work=Beijing 2008 |publisher=NBC Olympics |accessdate=December 21, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819213108/http://www.2008.nbcolympics.com/cycling/resultsandschedules/rsc%3DCTM401800/index.html |archivedate=August 19, 2012}}{{cite news |title=Reed advances to quarterfinals of women's match sprint |url=http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3793 |publisher=USA Cycling |date=August 17, 2008 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}} Two days later, in the men's sprint, Blatchford lost his round-of-sixteen match-up against France's Kévin Sireau, and finished second in his repechage heat behind Japan's Kazunari Watanabe, thus eliminating him from the tournament. Earlier in the morning session, Blatchford grabbed a fifteenth seed with a time of 10.470.{{cite web |title=Men's Sprint Repechage Round 1 |url=http://www.2008.nbcolympics.com/cycling/resultsandschedules/rsc=CTM001550/standings.html |work=Beijing 2008 |publisher=NBC Olympics |accessdate=December 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819213213/http://www.2008.nbcolympics.com/cycling/resultsandschedules/rsc=CTM001550/standings.html |archive-date=August 19, 2012 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=Reed advances into Monday's quarters |url=http://www.2008.nbcolympics.com/cycling/news/newsid=225047.html#reed+advances+into+mondays+quarters |publisher=NBC Olympics |date=August 17, 2008 |accessdate=October 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022012957/http://www.2008.nbcolympics.com/cycling/news/newsid=225047.html#reed+advances+into+mondays+quarters |archive-date=October 22, 2013 |url-status=dead}}

In 2009, Blatchford immediately took up a two-year sabbatical from the sport, when the U.S. cycling team disbanded the sprint program in track cycling.{{cite news |title=Revival on the Velodrome |url=http://www.teamusa.org/News/2011/October/17/Revival-on-the-Velodrome |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027204221/http://www.teamusa.org/News/2011/October/17/Revival-on-the-Velodrome |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 27, 2013 |publisher=Team USA |date=October 17, 2011 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}} By early 2011, he came out of an early retirement to join with four other riders for Project London 2012, an elite track cycling team, inspired and created by Rubicon Cycling LCC, that fosters the youth to become champion professional athletes, fulfilling their dream to represent the United States at the Olympic Games.{{cite news |title=Project London 2012 Launch |url=http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=18342 |publisher=Daily Peloton |date=March 16, 2011 |accessdate=October 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017135218/http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=18342 |archivedate=October 17, 2013}}

Returning from two years off the sport, Blatchford managed to reclaim the men's sprint titles (both individual and team) at the 2011 U.S. Track Cycling Championships, and further continued his stellar ride as part of the team that registered an American record of 44.036 and earned a silver medal at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.{{cite news |title=Two medals for U.S. track cyclists at Pan American Games |url=http://www.usacycling.org/two-medals-for-us-track-cyclists-at-pan-american-games.htm |publisher=USA Cycling |date=October 20, 2011 |accessdate=October 16, 2013 |archive-date=October 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017134811/http://www.usacycling.org/two-medals-for-us-track-cyclists-at-pan-american-games.htm |url-status=dead }} Having been chosen by USA Cycling to be eligible for team selection, Blatchford sought his official bid to compete for the 2012 Summer Olympics, but he was shortlisted.{{cite news |title=USA Cycling reveals eligible athletes |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/cycling/story/_/id/7357994/usa-cycling-announces-eligible-athletes-london-olympics |publisher=ESPN |date=December 15, 2011 |access-date=October 16, 2013}}{{cite news |title=USA Cycling announces pool of track riders for 2012 Olympics |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/usa-cycling-announces-pool-of-track-riders-for-2012-olympics |publisher=Cycling News |date=January 6, 2012 |accessdate=October 16, 2013}}

Career highlights

{{Div col}}

;2004

;2005

;2006

;2007

;2008

;2011

{{div col end}}

References

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