March 25/24 10:24 am - Sad News - Gordon Singleton Passes Away

Posted by Editoress on 03/25/24
 

We are very sorry to report that Canadian cycling legend Gordon Singleton has passed away. Gordon (never Gord) died yesterday, at the age of 67. He had recently been dealing with a cancer diagnosis, first discovered last summer.

I have known Gordon for more than 40 years, and most recently we served together on the Canadian Cycling Hall of Fame selection committee. Gordon was also a member of the Hall of Fame, becoming the first Canadian in the modern era to win a world title, when he became Keirin world champion in 1982. He became the first, and only, cyclist in history to simultaneously hold world records in all three of track cycling's sprint time trial races: the 200m, 500m and 1000m distances.

2015 Hall of Fame Induction


With Karen Strong 2017

He started racing in 1974, and by 1976 was representing Canada at the Montreal Olympics at the age of 19, where he made it to the final 16 in the Sprint. In 1978, he won bronze in the Sprint at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, and then teamed up with fellow Hall of Famer Jocelyn Lovell to capture gold in the Tandem Sprint, a terrifying and awe-inspiring event that is no longer contested in UCI races. Gordon was a medal favourite for the 1980 Moscow Games, which was boycotted by Western nations over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It was due to the boycott that Gordon went for the world records in the 200m, 500m and 1000m distances.

In 1981, Gordon took silver in the Keirin at the world championships, and in 1982 he won the Keirin and finished second in the Sprint after being relegated in the final race for causing a crash with Koichi Nakano of Japan; Singleton broke his collarbone and could no longer compete. The decision over who caused the crash was highly controversial, and Gordon always maintained that Nakano caused the crash. Gordon retired from international competition after 1982, to eventually take over Niagara Battery and Tire in the St Catharines region, where his son Chris joined him.

In the 1990s, Gordon returned to competing at the Masters Track Worlds, winning double gold in the Sprint and 750m time trial in 1998 (40-45 age category), as well as the Sprint title in 2006 (50-55 age category).

Gordon also became heavily involved with Canada's burgeoning national sprint program in the mid-2000's, working with riders and attending multiple world championships as an advisor and mentor. When the Milton velodrome opened, he was a regular attendee, both riding and working as a volunteer.

He was an inductee of the Hall of Fame in it's first year (2015), and an invaluable member of the selection committee. He was fiercely proud of Canada's recent successes on the track, and would regularly call, text or email me to discuss Canadian results. When Dylan Bibic won the first elite men's track title since Gordon's own, 40 years later in the Elimination in 2022, Gordon contacted me to set up an interview and photos - October 25/22 11:06 am - Two World Champions - Interview with Dylan Bibic & Gordon Singleton.

In 2022 with Dylan Bibic

This is a big loss for Gordon's family and Canadian cycling. Tracy and I offer our condolences to Luann and Gordon's sons, Chris and Jamie.

We will post visitation and service information as it becomes available.